Traces of Tarhuntas

Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Interaction with Hittite Monuments

Authors

  • Felipe Rojas Brown University
  • Valeria Sergueenkova University of Cincinnati

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v27i2.135

Keywords:

afterlife of monuments, Anatolia, antiquarianism, memory, rock-reliefs

Abstract

This article examines what people in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Anatolia thought about and did with Hittite and Neo-Hittite rock-cut reliefs and inscriptions. It brings together archaeological and textual evidence that demonstrates the intensity, variety, and sophistication of interactions with Bronze and Iron Age material remains between the classical and early Byzantine periods. It also calls attention to the ways in which indigenous inhabitants and foreign visitors alike used such remains to construct or verify narratives about local and universal history. The evidence analyzed here should be of interest to those studying social memory as well as cross-cultural interaction within and beyond the Mediterranean. Editorial Note It has been brought to our attention that the authors, Drs. F. Rojas and V. Sergueenkova, did not obtain permission from Drs. C. Maner and Y. Erbil to discuss several of the sites in the wider Konya area considered in this article and for which Drs. Maner and Erbil now hold survey permits. According to accepted international academic standards such as those in the Archaeological Institute of America’s Code of Professional Standards, professional archaeologists ‘owe consideration to colleagues and project members’ (AIA Code, Section III, heading); in particular, ‘before studying and/or publishing any unpublished material archaeologists should secure proper permission in writing, from the appropriate project director or the appointed representative of the sponsoring institution and/or the antiquities authorities in the country of origin’ (AIA Code Section III.6). This note acknowledges that omission.

Author Biographies

  • Felipe Rojas, Brown University
    Felipe Rojas is an Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Brown University. He has conducted fieldwork at various sites in the eastern Mediterranean and is the director of the Brown University Labraunda Project. He is currently writing a book about how the people of Greek and Roman Anatolia used material remains to imagine the local and universal past.
  • Valeria Sergueenkova, University of Cincinnati
    Valeria Sergueenkova is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Cincinnati and specializes in the fields of ancient historiography and the history of science. She is currently writing a book about the scope and methods of Herodotean history (A Science of the Past: Herodotus’ Histories between Nature and Culture).

Published

2014-12-11

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Rojas, F., & Sergueenkova, V. (2014). Traces of Tarhuntas: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Interaction with Hittite Monuments. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 27(2), 135-160. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v27i2.135