(By Naomi Miller, third-year undergraduate in the Department of Classics)

Those who live on the island of Chios will tell you that is the island where Homer was born, lived, and composed the legendary epics. Whilst this in itself may be highly debated among the Classical field, it is easy to be blown away by the landscape – sitting in the hills, overlooking the Aegean Sea, you can easily feel the magic and inspiration that could have inspired such great works.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time in Chios over the Summer and had plenty of opportunities to see the island for myself. If you get the opportunity to visit it, there are several sites to visit (for both the Homer and non-Homer fans!):

The south of Chios is the only area of the world in which mastic is produced. Surrounded by the fields that farm these trees are many picturesque medieval villages. Pyrgi is one of them, known famously as the painted village. Almost every house in the village is covered in carved with geometric designs, and it is a beautiful place to enjoy a cold coffee and spend an afternoon wandering around.

Another site worth visiting is perhaps the largest archaeological site in Chios, part of it believed to be a Mycenaean settlement. Interestingly, the Temple of Athena is argued by some academics to be similar to that of a temple described in Iliad, perhaps further adding to the idea that Homer actually lived on Chios and was inspired by what he saw there. Certainly, the views from the top of the settlement could inspire any poet.

Finally, the site of Daskalopetra, otherwise known as Teacher’s Rock, the rumoured site where Homer sat and composed the Iliad and Odyssey. Although it is now believed to be a temple dedicated to Cybele, it is definitely still a cult site for those who adore the works of Homer. Over the years it has played host to many readings of the epic poems, and dramas in Ancient Greek still are performed in the summer. And if this isn’t enough to interest you, then the Homer Taverna next to the site does wonderful mezze dishes!

I feel very privileged to have had the chance to explore Chios, meet the incredibly hospitable people, and bask in the Homeric world. Whilst I was there I not only was able to further my own learning and understanding for my own research and dissertation, but also learn a great deal about what Homer means to the modern Chians, and experience Greek xenia for myself.

(All photos by the author.)

(Written by Jessie Feito, PhD student in the Department of Classics, UoR)

In June of 2019, I was fortunate to participate in the Casa della Regina Carolina Excavation Project at Pompeii, a joint enterprise between Cornell University and the University of Reading. The project aims to combine the results obtained from modern technological techniques and excavation practices with data from much earlier excavations in order to investigate domestic material culture and historical change.

Modern excavations of the elite residence, now referred to as the Casa della Regina Carolina (VIII.3.14), began with a small team in the summer of 2018, and were greatly expanded in 2019. The 2019 season focused on trenches in the garden area, and, rather than excavation, I was primarily involved in the archaeobotany.

Archaeobotany refers the study of plant remains preserved in the archaeological record, often by processes including carbonisatioin, mineralisation, or, more commonly in wetter environs, waterlogging. In studying plant remains, archaeobotanists are able to shed light on many aspects of ancient life, including (but not limited to) diet, agricultural practices, past environments and environmental change.

In order to obtain seeds, or ‘macroremains,’ archaeobotanists employ a technique called flotation. During flotation, a soil sample is submerged in water and gently agitated. This allows the plant remains, which are less dense, to float to the surface, while the heavier material such as rocks and pottery, sink to the bottom. The floating material- or ‘light fraction’- is skimmed off the topped and dried, so that it can later be examined under a microscope. The heavier material is often sorted on site.

The samples from the 2019 season have the potential to provide insight into the landscape of the ancient garden, as well as into any activities that may have taken place in such a setting. Previous archaeobotanical work in gardens at Pompeii have yielded carbonised plant remains that have been interpreted as representing the burning of plants as ritual offerings and sacrifices (see Robinson 2002). It will be interesting to see what the results of the archaeobotanical analysis are able to say about the landscape of the garden of the Casa della Regina Carolina, as well as about the uses of the space and how these compare with other garden contexts.

The following photos give a sense of the meticulous procedures involved in archaeobotanical work; they were all taken by Danielle Vander Horst, MA student at Cornell.

Flotation: the flots (plant remains that floated) may be seen hanging in the background.

Flotation in progress

Sorting the ‘heavy fraction’ (the material that sank)

Flotation equipment in its natural setting, a Pompeii street!

(Written by research associate of Reading Classics, Dr Hana Navratilova.)

The International Congress of Egyptologists 2019 took place in Cairo, where it returned after nearly 20 years. It is a regular occurrence of every four years. This time the meetings took place in one of Cairo’s historic hotels, the Mena House, a place of wartime meetings of the Allied leaders in the 1940s – and with a direct view of the pyramids. However, the programme was both attentive to historical roots, reflected in the conference venue surroundings, and very outward- and forward looking, and as it encompassed several hundred papers of scholars from all over the world, concerned with all historical periods of Egypt between early dynastic to late Antiquity and a rich variety of methodologies. Graeco-Roman Egypt was also represented, as was history of Egyptology and Oriental Studies. One might have wished for even more interdisciplinary papers showcasing the character of modern studies of ancient Egypt, but, truth be said, a full week of intense papers could not have been much extended.

As one of the session chairs, I had the opportunity to appreciate the diversity and depth of ongoing research projects. The afternoon text and languages session on Monday, 4th of November offered a rich outline of ongoing work in Egyptological philology, linguistics, text editing and text materiality. The trends included diversity of approaches, methodological openness and contextualisation. We also discussed the teaching of Greek and Latin versus teaching of ancient Egyptian!