Carl Walsh

This article examines instances of ceramics from the Classic Kerma state in modern-day Sudan found in Egypt during the Middle Bronze Age. Moving beyond traditional colonial and ethnic interpretations of this material, I argue that the inherently sensorial and bodily aspects of these vessels in Kerman eating and drinking practices made these objects appealing for experimentation with Egyptian audiences. Commensality in social reception and hospitality between Kermans and Egyptians is argued to be a primary means through which these objects and practices were exchanged and experimented with. These instances of commensality worked to construct, maintain, and negotiate social bonds and relationships during intercultural encounters and processes such as migration, trade, and diplomacy between Egyptian and Kerman populations.

During the second half of the twentieth century, Archaeology, experienced several paradigm shifts that enabled the field to move away from culture-historical approaches to more heuristic and pluralistic views and approaches to the archaeological record. The first of these shifts, The New Archaeology or ‘processualism’, came about in 1960 after publication of Binford’s seminal paper called 'Archaeology as Anthropology' in which he built on what Willey and Phillips had said two years prior, that ‘American Archaeology is anthropology or it is nothing.’ The second shift, post-processualism, came about as reaction to their predecessor’s method’s shortcomings, and were heavily influenced by French sociologists and philosophers. By contrast, this great transformation had little impact on Egyptology. There has been little to no call for a general epistemological and theoretical debate (or housecleaning) in Egyptology with which Egyptological assumptions and interpretation could be measured and adjusted against the impact of broader understandings of humans and their societies across the social sciences. So far, attempts at integrating Egyptology with wider social theory have been made by-and-large in a piecemeal fashion by scholars, and have scarcely sparked debate or challenged the homeostatic view of Egyptian culture or the fierce pride of some Egyptologists in the stand-alone quality of their evidence and discipline.

This paper suggests that Egyptology has reached a juncture in which the opening of the field to other areas, such as anthropology and sociology, is critical in revitalising and safeguarding the future of the discipline. Discourse beyond disciplinary boundaries is becoming increasingly important in academia, due to wider changes in university structures, employment, and funding opportunities. Other previously cloistered fields, such as Aegean archaeology, have seen a recent blossoming in incorporating anthropological theory, resulting in successful engagement with larger questions within archaeology, ancient history, and philology. We propose that a more reflexive Egyptology, one that engages critically with other disciplines, would do much to help reinvigorate the field. In this paper we review Egyptology’s attempts at better integrating anthropological theories and discourse, evaluate why they so far have proven comparatively ineffective, and suggest a number of lines of enquiry that hold promise for future research and progress.

Palaces are social arenas in which the performance of specific forms of behavior and gesture often formed integral aspects in the construction of social identity and commonality amongst ancient court societies. However, relatively little study has been made on the way that courtly body culture, etiquette and performance, the pomp and ceremony of court life, can be reconstructed from the material, artistic, and architectural records during the Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean.

In this paper I put forward an anthropological and sociological approach that employs a holistic analysis of palatial architecture, decoration and semi permanent features (such as furniture, basins, hearths, and standards), in examining the social reception spaces of Levantine Middle Bronze Age palatial buildings at Tell Kabri, Ebla, Qatna, Alalakh, and Tilmen Höyük. By focusing on the ways these features interacted with the human body and could construct specific forms of behavior (such as ways of walking and sitting), it is possible to begin to reconstruct the theatrical and performative body behaviors that would have formed integral elements of courtly identity, hierarchy, and social memory. In this manner we can start to restore some aspects of the pomp and drama of court life during the Bronze Age.

"The sprawling urban center and royal cemeteries at Kerma, located by the 3rd Nile cataract in modern Sudan, document the presence of a wealthy and powerful palatial elite that was on par with the large palatial centers found in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Monumental palatial buildings and a stratified royal cemetery offer an intriguing cross section of the highest members of society, particularly the royal court.
This paper explores modes of bodily comportment amongst the court elite at Kerma, which were used in the construction of social etiquettes used to express a ‘courtly’ identity. Outlining an approach which stresses the use of body techniques and etiquettes in managing and regulating social interactions in court societies, it will be demonstrated through a select corpus of material, sitting furniture and eye cosmetics, that members of the Kerman court, and the wider region of the ‘Kerma Culture’, adopted certain etiquettes from contemporary Egyptian courts. These transmissions of courtly behaviours will be explained through Kerma’s active participation in Eastern Mediterranean diplomatic systems during the Middle Bronze Age, where diplomats could act as agents and catalysts of behavioural change. In this manner the dynamic region of the Kerma Culture is brought out of the perceived ‘periphery’ and into the wider Mediterranean world."

This paper will argue that certain body techniques and social etiquettes were important markers of social status and inclusion amongst the royal courts of palatial centers in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age. Looking in particular at late 18th Dynasty Egypt and the Late Helladic Mycenaean mainland, it will be argued that court elites cultivated shared body techniques and etiquettes in order to differentiate themselves from those of lower social standing while also displaying membership in both intra and inter-regional court elite groups. Material culture, such as furniture remains, will be used in conjunction with textual sources, such as the Amarna and Hattusha Archives, and artistic sources, such as tomb paintings and models, to illustrate some of these body techniques and etiquettes and reconstruct their roles within the social arena of the court. Further, the sharing of modes of court comportment in both Egypt and the Mycenaean Mainland will be explained through diplomatic networks in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The royal tumuli at Kerma, dating to the Kerma Classic, document the presence of a wealthy and powerful palatial elite, with the hundreds of burials offering an interesting cross section of the elite and the royal court. The variety and quality of grave goods contained within the tumuli highlight that the elite enjoyed affluent courtly lifestyles where the human body was a prominent avenue for the display of prestige and social status.

This paper will explore modes of elite bodily comportment at Kerma as evidenced through specific types of material culture, namely furniture.  It is argued that the inherent bodily techniques that these objects required for their correct usage were themselves expressions of social status and prestige. In addition the presence of these objects and their associated bodily techniques in the royal tumuli will be explained through the Kerman court’s participation in a wider Eastern Mediterranean diplomatic system, in which bodily comportment and social etiquettes played a large role in the expression of status amongst the palatial elite.

The value of video games to archaeology and vice versa has been discussed and shown in a number of related fields such as cultural heritage, ethnography, media studies, education and in a variety of archaeological thought and practice. The combination of games and archaeology, also known as archaeogaming, has grown to be a rich and multifaceted aspect in both scholarly discourse and heritage outreach. It functions not only to educate about the past and to recreate it, but also as a tool to think differently and more reflexively about archaeology and the way we engage with the past.

This two-day series of talks combined with a workshop will discuss the state of the field in gaming and archaeology with a specific focus on how interactive, virtual media function as a differential space for theory-crafting, historytelling, and public outreach. As the most popular form of entertainment globally, it is a given that games are instrumental in democratizing access to the past. Yet this often happens outside of the realm of disciplines that normally produce knowledge of the past. In short, any engagement with games includes confronting our materially-constructed and linear versions of the past with those that take place in digital playgrounds. How do games afford experiences of the past and the practice of archaeology? How do game developers craft specific versions of the past through playful, nonlinear and multi-vocal narratives in alternative virtual worlds? How can games produce awareness on past and present matters, create communities,and forge new relations between different people? But also, how can playing with time, materiality, and history in this interactive, digital medium shape the analogue study of the past?

We would like to invite archaeologists, designers, critics and consumers to address these issues and their implications for the future of both games and archaeology. This will take the shape of discussion, play, and, game design — with a workshop on Twine, an easy to pick-up but powerful tool for the creation of interactive stories!

Ancient palaces capture the imagination as monumental and grandiose manifestations of power and wealth. These were the residences of kings, queens, and courtiers, built to impress with their echoing halls, exquisite paintings and statuary, exotic building materials, fragrant gardens, and sumptuous reception rooms. This course explores these phenomenological aspects of palatial design in the ancient Mediterranean (and beyond), delving into how architecture shapes human experience in such monumental spaces. Through a series of case studies from ancient Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Israel, Turkey, and Greece, we examine how palatial architectural design manipulates the senses, the body, behavior, and the mind to create theatrical and performative arenas. We also visit historic and monumental buildings in and around Providence, exploring firsthand how architectural design is all about the human experience. Prepare to be impressed!

Almost every human society has played games, from dice and board games to hunting and sport. But why are games such a universal human phenomenon? What exactly do games accomplish and what are their roles in societies? This course explores the concept of ‘gaming culture’ and seeks to develop and expand ideas on the role of games as a distinct human cultural phenomenon. We will explore games through the lenses of multiple fields, from anthropology and archaeology to sociology, psychology, and philosophy. We will actually play games, ancient and modern, in order to take a hands on and experimental approach in exploring themes and topics. Through such approaches and reflections, this course will equip students to more readily question how games are important and essential parts of human lives, in ways that are not entirely obvious or expected. Start your turn and see where the dice land!

The Levant, composing of the modern states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan was a dynamic crossroads of ancient civilizations, from Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia, to the Aegean and even as far as northern Europe. However, ancient Levantine societies are often viewed through the lens of their larger and more well-known neighbors, particularly Egypt. In this course we will shift this viewpoint by examining the archaeological evidence for Levantine societies from the 4th to the beginning of the 1st millennium. Such a change of perspective facilitates a better understanding of the nature and agency of Levantine-Egyptian interactions and cultural interconnections through a complex array of different interaction processes such as war, trade, diplomacy, migration, and colonization.

In exploring the archaeological evidence for Levantine societies and their interactions with Egypt, students will be expected to develop and incorporate their own areas of interest into the course, providing a fruitful multi-disciplinary research and learning environment. The development of these interests over the semester will feed into the production an article that will be tailored for publication in a selected academic journal of the students choosing.

Human societies have always needed formalized ways of interacting with the ‘foreign’, a term incorporating materials, objects, peoples, practices, and societies which are culturally different. These formalized relations have often been examined through the lens of ‘diplomacy’, a modern term and concept, that relates to individuals/groups who act as primary intermediaries between the foreign and the domestic. However, to what extent can this basic term and concept be used to accurately explore the role of intercultural encounters in the Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean, a region encompassing Egypt, Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and the Aegean. In this course we will explore the ways in archaeologists and historians have approached the concept of diplomacy, and critically consider how these approaches have shaped our understanding of the mechanics and processes of this concept. Students will be provided with an introduction to theories and thematic topics such as gift exchange, etiquette, palatial architecture, and elite body culture, and how these are explored and interpreted through archaeological evidence. Particular focus will be made on the way the different ways in which particular types of primary sources (texts, material culture, and art) have shaped the debate and discussion, and how other disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, and anthropology can expand our understanding. We will also consider how these aspects relate to modern diplomacy and interactions with the foreign ‘other’, a particularly relevant and important subject in a dramatically changing modern world.