The inner lives of ancient houses : an archaeology of Dura-Europos / J.A. Baird.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baird, Jennifer A., 1978- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture, Domestic--Syria--Dura-Europos (Extinct city).

Architecture, Domestic.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Syria--Dura-Europos (Extinct city).

Excavations (Archaeology)--Syria--Dura-Europos (Extinct city).

Buildings--Syria--Dura-Europos (Extinct city).

Buildings.

Dura-Europos (Extinct city)--Social life and customs.

Dura-Europos (Extinct city).

Dura-Europos (Extinct city)--Civilization.

Physical Description:

xix, 395 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Dura-Europos, on the Syrian Euphrates, is one of the best preserved and most extensively excavated sites of the Roman world. A Hellenistic foundation later held by the Parthians and then the Romans, Dura had a Roman military garrison installed within its city walls before it was taken by the Sasanians in the mid-third century. The Inner Lives of Ancient Homes is the first study to consider the houses of the site as a whole. The houses were excavated by a team from Yale and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters in the 1920s and 1930s, and though a wealth of archaeological and textual material was recovered, most of that relating to housing was never published. Through a combination of archival information held at the Yale University Art Gallery and new fieldwork with the Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura, this study re-evaluates the houses of the site, integrating architecture, artefacts, and textual evidence and examining ancient daily life and cultural interaction, as well as considering houses which were modified for use by the Roman military. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Excavating Dura-Europos: From Field to Archive 1

Excavating Dura-Europos 4

The excavation of the houses 14

The history of Dura-Europos 20

The abandonment sequence of Dura-Europos 25

Current knowledge of the houses 29

Towards a biography of Dura's houses 35

2 The Houses of Dura-Europos 39

Urbanism and domestic architecture at Dura 40

Building Dura's houses 62

From house to society at Dura-Europos 102

3 The Roman Military Presence in the Houses of Dura-Europos 111

Installation of the Roman garrison 111

The Roman military at Dura and the transformation of houses 115

Billeting at Dura? 142

The Roman Palace 148

The 'House of the Prefect', Block Ji 151

4 Everyday Life in Roman Dura-Europos: Household Activities 155

The Assemblages 157

Durene time 158

Eating and drinking practices 163

Sleeping 172

Reading and writing 173

Religious practices 174

Household manufacture 183

Commerce: shops, bars, and the brothel of Dura 186

Sensing Dura 200

5 Assembling Identities at Dura-Europos 209

Aspects of identity 211

Being Durene, being Roman 266

6 The Houses of Dura-Europos: A Biographical Approach 271

The structures of the houses and households 271

Changing houses: blocks C7 and D5 275

Keeping it in the family: block Di and the elite of Dura 285

Placing Dura's houses 299.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-392) and index.

Other Format:

Also available online: Baird, J. A. Inner lives of ancient houses.

ISBN:

9780199687657

019968765X

OCLC:

873746891