British School at Athens Newsletter

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

British School at Athens Newsletter The British School at Athens December an institute for advanced research 2017 the Academy of Athens, the National From the Director Hellenic Research Foundation, the Benaki Museum, the Athens School of Fine Arts and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and of the 17 other foreign The Director with schools and institutes with bases in the his @LegoClassicists alter ego protevousa (‘the capital’, as Athens is known in Greece). The wall around our premises is a highly porous membrane, through which many pass to make use of our Library, or to attend various events, or simply to meet and discuss topics of mutual academic interest. A December newsletter affords a Janus-like view, not only of events past, but also of those scheduled, both in the UK and in Greece, for the next six months. We are raising awareness in the UK about the inspiring work It is a great pleasure to wish everyone the staff of the Ministry of Culture and being facilitated by the School a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Sports, both in Athens and the regions through an increasing number of UK Year with this second issue of our in which we carry out this work; we are events and hope that many of you newsletter. Here those who share most grateful for that cooperation. will be able to attend these. Since our passion for the humanities and This partnership is, however, only we know that most cannot attend social sciences in Greece and its wider one of many that are facilitated and events in Athens, we make most of geographical context will find up to enabled by our location in Athens. With the lectures we sponsor here avail a- date news of our activities. our neighbours, the American School ble on our YouTube channel (https:// This issue focuses on the courses of Classical Studies at Athens, we share www.youtube.com/channel/UCJLq- that we run for postgraduate and a ‘campus’ and cooperate on library d0Q3Upn28hO5UWptmw/videos). undergraduate students and BSA- resources, including a unified catalogue, We hope you find this newsletter sponsored archaeo logical field work Ambrosia. But our intellectual life is more informative and enjoyable. Please do programmes over the past year. Field- generally enriched through the willing feed back reactions and suggestions work and study programmes are only collaboration of such other institutions to [email protected]. possible thanks to the cooperation of as the Archaeological Society of Athens, John Bennet BSA Fieldwork 2017 Antiquity features regularly in our Upper We are most grateful to Dr Maria wide range of bodies, including: the House seminar series, as will be apparent Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Secretary General of Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the from the list of past and future events at the Ministry of Culture and Sport and Dr National Geographic Society, the Jackman the end of this newsletter; we also this year Eleni Korka, Director General of Antiquities, Foundation, the Loeb Classical Library enjoyed lectures at Knossos in June and as well as to the numerous colleagues in Foundation, the Faculty of Classics July on Prehistoric and Byzantine Crete, the Ministry who make our archaeological Cambridge University, the University of a memorable lecture on Pella in London work possible. In particular, we thank those Michigan, Brown University, Cambridge and a workshop in Athens focused on in charge of the Ephorates of Antiquities Humanities Research Grants, the Gerda ceramics in memory of Christopher Mee, in which our major fieldwork took place Henkel Stiftung, the McDonald Institute former Assistant Director and Professor — Dr Dimitris Athanasoulis (Cyclades), Dr Cambridge, UCL, the British Academy, at Liverpool, at which Christa Mee spoke Alexandra Charami (Boeotia), Mr Ioannis the Rust Family Foundation, the Cyprus movingly of their time at the BSA. Kanonidis (Chalkidike & Mount Athos), Institute, the Piraeus Bank Foundation, Fieldwork continued at Olynthos, Dr Konstantinos Kissas (Corinthia), Dr All Souls College Oxford, Sidney Sussex Keros, Knossos and Koutroulou, while we Efthymia Karantzali (Fthiotis & Evrytania), College Cambridge, Marie Skłodowska- initiated a new collaborative project at Dr Vassiliki Sythiakaki (Herakleion), Dr Curie Actions, plus many private donations. Prosilio and we returned, for one season Alkistis Papadimitriou (Argolid), Dr Pari Further information on these projects only, to the island of Kythera. There were Kalamara (Euboea), Mrs Evangelia Pantou will appear in Archaeology in Greece also study seasons for the Kenchreai (Laconia), Mrs Chryssa Sofianou (Lasithi), Online (http://chronique.efa.gr) and Arch­ Quarries Project, Knossos (both KULP and Dr Stella Chrysoulaki (Western Attica, aeological Reports, and we will report and Gypsades), Lefkandi and Palaikastro Piraeus & the Islands). again on archaeological activities in the (PALAP and previous excavations), as well In addition we recognise the generous Fitch Laboratory and the Knossos Research as for Kouphovouno and Mycenae. financial support for projects from a Centre next June. The British School at Athens 2017 – December Kythera-Paliokastro Survey Project 2017 From 1998 to 2001 the Kythera Island Project (KIP, co-directed by Cyprian Broodbank and Evangelia Kiriatzi) con- ducted diachronic intensive field survey over a 101 km2 area of central-southern Kythera. A 2.5 km2 portion of this region, around the inland urban centre of ancient Kythera, known as Paliokastro, was not available to KIP. Excavations by Yannis Petrocheilos documented the existence of a town there from at least later Geometric times until Early Roman and a major acropolis sanctuary (epigraphically attributed to Athena) dating from the 8th century BC to Hellenistic times. In 2017 the opportunity arose to reinforce and extend our understanding of the Paliokastro and Cyprian Broodbank (Cam bridge), Evangelia Kiriatzi (BSA- Fitch), Andrew Bevan (UCL) and Yiannis Petrocheilos (Ioannina) report on intensive Fieldwork, showing (a) a survey team in action in one of the kinder parts of the Paliokastro fieldwalking, geophysics and Unmanned landscape, (b) ‘drone’ survey, (c) ground­penetrating radar, (d) artefact study Aerial Vehicle (‘drone’) survey. The main objectives were to investigate the entirety of the Paliokastro urban zone to refine and collected 2,800 feature sherds and three new examples in 2017. One rock-cut our understanding of the main timelines over 200 other finds. cavity was recorded, probably a Minoan of human activity, to characterise better Preliminary results afford an initial single-chamber tomb, associated with a the changing spatial footprint of these picture of the history of this small, but nearby farmstead-size scatter. activities, and to situate this key area more significant part of Kythera. Diagnostic Paliokastro follows a wider pattern, systematically within wider island and Final Neolithic–Early Bronze 1 material particularly clear on Crete and the regional research agendas set by KIP, the comes mostly from the top of the hill, Cyclades, of very late Late Bronze Age Antikythera Survey Project (ASP) and the but definite Early Bronze 2 (EB2) through refuge sites following abandonment Petrocheilos excavations and others. to Minoan material is strikingly absent or decline of lowland centres and likely Surface survey involved two teams of there, suggesting that it was neither used seaborne raiding. There is probable five surveyors walking 15m apart and as a peak sanctuary similar to nearby con tinuity of slow settlement growth counting all pottery, tile and other finds Agios Georgios, nor as a habitation. This from perhaps 1200–1000 BC through and collecting all ‘feature’ potsherds/tiles, apparent gap of perhaps two millennia on the Geometric–Archaic, expansion and lithics, groundstone, slag/metal, glass the hill top also contrasts with lower areas growth during the Classical–Hellenistic, and architectural items. In this intensive in the valleys on all sides, which produced and stability or decline afterwards until manner 2.0 km2 were surveyed. Surveyors many small EB2–Second Palace scatters as late as 50–100 AD. The earlier pottery counted 26,600 sherds and 21,300 tiles, (probably farmsteads) including at least associated with this scenario continues Left: map of the 1998–2001 KIP survey area, showing the 2017 survey outlined in red (D. Nenova); right: prehistoric sherd and lithic distribution (D. Nenova) 2 www.bsa.ac.uk The British School at Athens 2017 – December Above: gradiometer survey of two adjacent areas on the south side of Paliokastro Above right: Post Palatial–Geometric–Archaic sherd distribution (D. Nenova); right: Hellenistic–Early Roman sherd and distribution and other finds (D. Nenova) the Second and Third Palace potting finds of rosso antico, Parian marble, pebble- capitals. The early 19th-century discovery traditions, but at some point within the mosaic floors, and fine ware pottery nearby of a marble dedication stela of Archaic period a new tradition emerged, mostly of Hellenistic–early Roman date), c. 300 BC showing the twins Castor and marking the abandonment of micaceous and very reduced evidence for settle ment Pollux and the number of spolia, suggest pottery production. Pottery, including on the top ridge running south–east from a possible temple on the same site. pithoi and larger and smaller plain vessels, the acropolis’ Athena temple. Wider comparative opportunities will were made with Neogene clays, most Geophysical data are still being pro- emerge as the Paliokastro evidence is potentially at workshops near Paliokastro.
Recommended publications
  • Of Time, Honor, and Memory: Oral Law in Albania
    Oral Tradition, 23/1 (2008): 3-14 Of Time, Honor, and Memory: Oral Law in Albania Fatos Tarifa This essay provides a historical account of the role of oral tradition in passing on from generation to generation an ancient code of customary law that has shaped and dominated the lives of northern Albanians until well into the mid-twentieth century. This traditional body of customary law is known as the Kode of Lekë Dukagjini. It represents a series of norms, mores, and injunctions that were passed down by word of mouth for generations and reputedly originally formulated by Lekë Dukagjini, an Albanian prince and companion-in-arms to Albania’s national hero, George Kastriot Skanderbeg (1405-68). Lekë Dukagjini ruled the territories of Pulati, Puka, Mirdita, Lura, and Luma in northern Albania—known today as the region of Dukagjini—until the Ottoman armies seized Albania’s northernmost city of Shkodër in 1479. Throughout the past five to six centuries this corpus of customary law has been referred to as Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, Kanuni i Malsisë (the Code of the Highlands), or Kanuni i maleve (the Code of the Mountains). The “Code” is an inexact term, since Kanun, deriving from the Greek kanon, simultaneously signifies “norm,” “rule,” and “measure.” The Kanun, but most particularly the norm of vengeance, or blood taking, as its standard punitive apparatus, continue to this day to be a subject of historical, sociological, anthropological, and juridical interest involving various theoretical frames of reference from the dominant trends of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to today. The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini was not the only customary law in Albania.
    [Show full text]
  • Approved by Supervisi G Committee
    Copyright by Jane Katherine Arney 2011 The Thesis Committee for Jane Katherine Arney Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Expecting Epiphany: Performative Ritual and Roman Cultural Space APPROVED BY SUPERVISIG COMMITTEE: Supervisor: John R. Clarke Penelope J. E. Davies Expecting Epiphany: Performative Ritual and Roman Cultural Space by Jane Katherine Arney, B.A. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2011 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to Professor Kimberly Davis at Miracosta College, who helped me believe that I could do it. Acknowledgements The idea for this project began in Professor John Clarke’s “Seeing Gods” graduate seminar, in which we explored various aspects of epiphany. Dr. Clarke pointed out that there was fertile ground for this topic in Pompeii and guided me to the Twelve Gods mural. He has also pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to explore areas of theory. I am most grateful for his generosity and his encouragement. I would also like to thank Professor Penelope Davies, whose interest, prodding and comments helped me to better understand and, I hope, improve my writing style. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with these exemplary scholars whose works are of substantial importance to the field of Roman art history. May 6, 2011 v Abstract Expecting Epiphany: Performative Ritual and Roman Cultural Space Jane Katherine Arney, M.A The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: John R.
    [Show full text]
  • Keltiké Makhaira. on a La Tène Type Sword from the Sanctuary of Nemea
    JAN KYSELA · STEPHANIE KIMMEY KELTIKÉ MAKHAIRA. ON A LA TÈNE TYPE SWORD FROM THE SANCTUARY OF NEMEA An iron sword (IL 296) was discovered in Well K14:4 in the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea (today Archaia Nemea, Corinthia / GR) in 1978 (fg. 1, N). Although promptly published (Stephen G. Miller 1979; 2004) and displayed in the local archaeological museum, and known therefore for four decades now, it has received only very little attention so far (the only exception being a brief note in Baitinger 2011, 76). The present paper is an attempt to make up for this disinterest. DESCRIPTION The iron sword has a straight symmetrical two-edged blade tapering towards the point with some preserved wooden elements of the hilt (fg. 2). The measurements of the sword are as follows: overall L. c. 83 cm; blade L. c. 72 cm; blade W. at the hilt 4.9 cm; tang L. c. 11 cm; L. of the preserved wooden handle 6.5 cm; W. of the guard 5 cm; L. of rivets in the hilt 24 mm. The sword has not been weighed. The object was re- stored after its discovery; no information about the nature and extent of this intervention has been pre- served, however. It underwent a mechanical cleaning and was heavily restored with epoxy 1. A later and duly documented conservation in 2010 aimed mostly at the stabilisation of the object. The blade is bent but complete. In several spots (particularly in its upper fourth and towards its very end), the remains of iron sheet cling to the blade surface.
    [Show full text]
  • Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period Ryan
    Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period by Ryan Anthony Boehm A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Emily Mackil, Chair Professor Erich Gruen Professor Mark Griffith Spring 2011 Copyright © Ryan Anthony Boehm, 2011 ABSTRACT SYNOIKISM, URBANIZATION, AND EMPIRE IN THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD by Ryan Anthony Boehm Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology University of California, Berkeley Professor Emily Mackil, Chair This dissertation, entitled “Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period,” seeks to present a new approach to understanding the dynamic interaction between imperial powers and cities following the Macedonian conquest of Greece and Asia Minor. Rather than constructing a political narrative of the period, I focus on the role of reshaping urban centers and regional landscapes in the creation of empire in Greece and western Asia Minor. This period was marked by the rapid creation of new cities, major settlement and demographic shifts, and the reorganization, consolidation, or destruction of existing settlements and the urbanization of previously under- exploited regions. I analyze the complexities of this phenomenon across four frameworks: shifting settlement patterns, the regional and royal economy, civic religion, and the articulation of a new order in architectural and urban space. The introduction poses the central problem of the interrelationship between urbanization and imperial control and sets out the methodology of my dissertation. After briefly reviewing and critiquing previous approaches to this topic, which have focused mainly on creating catalogues, I point to the gains that can be made by shifting the focus to social and economic structures and asking more specific interpretive questions.
    [Show full text]
  • Working Paper, Not for Distribution Without Permission of the Author
    Working paper, not for distribution without permission of the author. Tonio Hölscher: Myths, Images, and the Typology of Identities in Early Greek Art 1. Identity: Problems with a modern concept in present times and in the past ‘Identity’, in its double sense as an individual and a collective concept, has since the 1970es become a key term of discourse on historical as well as contemporary societies. The notion of ‘identity’ is not only used as a descriptive category of historical and sociological analysis but is also, and above all, asserted as a legitimate claim of individual and collective entities: Individual persons as well as social groups or national populations claim the right to live according to, and to fight for their identity. In the context of this conference, it is the aspect of collective identity I am going to focus on. Nobody will deny the importance of the concept of collective identity: Communities cannot exist without a conscious or unconscious definition of what they are. That is how they can identify themselves. Nor will anybody on principle contest the right of communities to cultivate and defend their identity: We concede this right to the Greeks in their fight against the Persians as well as to contemporary peoples that are suppressed by superpowers or threatened by foreign enemies. But on the other hand, it is also evident that such emphasis on identity is anything but innocent. For there can be no doubt that during the last generation the increasing assertion of collective and national identity has produced an enormous potential of conflicts throughout the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Roma in Albania Were the Big Losers of the Economic and Political Changes of 1989-1990
    Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) MINORITIES IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE Roma of Albania Acknowledgements This report was researched and written by Maria Koinova, Researcher of CEDIME- SE. It was edited by Panayote Dimitras, Director of CEDIME-SE and Nafsika Papanikolatos, Coordinator of CEDIME-SE. English Language Editor of CEDIME- SE and Caroline Law. CEDIME-SE would like to express its deep appreciation to the external reviewers of this report, Claude Cahn, Staff Writer/Publications Director of the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, Marcel Courthiades, researcher at the Institute of Rromani Studies, University of Paris, Krassimir Kanev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, who, with their critical comments, contributed substantially to its quality. CEDIME-SE would also like to thank all persons who generously provided information and/or documents, and/or gave interviews to its researcher. The responsibility for the report’s content, though, lies only with CEDIME-SE. We welcome all comments sent to: [email protected] 1 MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS Updated August 2000 State: Albania Name (in English, in the dominant language and –if different- in the minority’s language): Roma, Romanies, Gypsies. Their name in the Albanian language is Rom (official) and Arixhi, Gabel, Magjup, Kurbat (derogative), and in the minority language their name is Rrom (sg.) and Rroma (pl.) Is there any form of recognition of the minority? Roma are officially recognized through the Romani NGOs that have a judicial status in Albania (Kanev, 1999). Nevertheless, Roma are not recognized publicly as a distinct minority, unlike the Greeks and the Macedonians who are recognized due to a situation inherited from communism.
    [Show full text]
  • Settlement Patterns and Defence on Northern Chios, 9Th - 16Th Centuries
    “CAPITANIA VALISSO CASTRUM DICTI LOCI”: SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND DEFENCE ON NORTHERN CHIOS, 9TH - 16TH CENTURIES by IOANNA NIKOLAOU KOUKOUNI A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity College of Arts & Law University of Birmingham December 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. TO THE REVERED MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND OF MY GRANDPARENTS, AND ALL OUR NORTH-CHIOT ANCESTORS FOR THEY PLOUGHED THIS LAND WITH THE TEARS OF THEIR TOIL. I PAY THIS TRIBUTE ABSTRACT This thesis is a survey of Mount Amani, the northwestern province of Chios island (east Aegean). The thesis examines the natural environment and explores the landscape using different kinds of information, in order to reconstruct the medieval historical topography of this region and to contribute to the problématique of the history and evolution of the Byzantine village and its remarkable longevity. The methodology applied ranges from the scanty literary sources, and visible archaeological evidence, and extends to the tracing of any sign of human activity on the landscape.
    [Show full text]
  • The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology (Bologna, February 15Th, 2019)
    The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology (Bologna, February 15th, 2019). Inauguration of the digital exhibition and proceedings of the final meeting of “Byzart - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana” project Isabella Baldini, Giulia Marsili, Claudia Lamanna, Lucia Maria Orlandi To cite this version: Isabella Baldini, Giulia Marsili, Claudia Lamanna, Lucia Maria Orlandi. The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology (Bologna, February 15th, 2019). Inaugura- tion of the digital exhibition and proceedings of the final meeting of “Byzart - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana” project. 2019. halshs-02906310 HAL Id: halshs-02906310 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02906310 Submitted on 24 Jul 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology Edited by Isabella Baldini Claudia Lamanna Giulia Marsili Lucia Maria Orlandi The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology
    [Show full text]
  • Dissertation-Full Final Rackham Edit
    STATE, LAW, AND REVOLUTION: AGRARIAN POWER AND THE NATIONAL STATE IN ALBANIA, 1850-1945 by Besnik Pula A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology) in the University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor George P. Steinmetz, Chair Professor Howard A. Kimeldorf Professor Margaret R. Somers Professor Ronald Grigor Suny Professor Michael D. Kennedy, Brown University © Besnik Pula 2011 DEDICATION To my wife, Shpresa. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As I ponder all the individuals that have had a role in making this dissertation see the light of day, I realize how difficult it is to properly recount the numerous ways and uncountable acts, large and small, with which others have shaped, supported, and directly or indirectly helped me arrive at this finished product. I was extremely fortunate to have had a group of exceptional historical social scientists as members of my committee, whose support carried me from my early days as a graduate student at Michigan through the years of research and writing of this dissertation. All these individuals have made tremendous efforts in giving me the best training a rookie graduate student in sociology can get. I can only hope to live up to the high standards they have set. My principal advisor, George Steinmetz, has played an enormous intellectual and mentoring role not only during the research and writing of this dissertation, but during my entire graduate career. George was patient enough to stick with me as I scrapped my original dissertation topic to end up working on the one here.
    [Show full text]
  • The Balearics and Cyprus in the Early Medieval Byzantine Insular System
    Al-Masāq Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean ISSN: 0950-3110 (Print) 1473-348X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/calm20 “Going to the Extremes”: The Balearics and Cyprus in the Early Medieval Byzantine Insular System Luca Zavagno To cite this article: Luca Zavagno (2019) “Going to the Extremes”: The Balearics and Cyprus in the Early Medieval Byzantine Insular System, Al-Masāq, 31:2, 140-157, DOI: 10.1080/09503110.2019.1602375 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2019.1602375 Published online: 26 Apr 2019. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 103 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=calm20 AL-MASĀQ 2019, VOL. 31, NO. 2, 140–157 https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2019.1602375 “Going to the Extremes”: The Balearics and Cyprus in the Early Medieval Byzantine Insular System Luca Zavagno ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY This contribution mainly focuses on Cyprus and the Balearics, islands Received 11 July 2018 located at opposite geographical extremes of the Byzantine Accepted 18 January 2019 Mediterranean, during the passage from Late Antiquity to the KEYWORDS early Middle Ages. Historians have often regarded these islands as Cyprus; Balearics; Frontier; peripheral additions to the Byzantine heartland of the Aegean and Islands; Mallorca; Byzantium the Anatolian plateau; this article argues that, in fact, archaeological and material indicators (such as ceramics, lead seals and coins), paired with the scarce textual sources, point to a certain degree of economic prosperity in the abovementioned islands during the period under scrutiny, suggesting that they continued to play an important role in the political, administrative and religious structures of the Byzantine Empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Between Middle Eastern Heterodoxy, Indigenization and Modern Shi'ism: Competing Identities Among the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi Communities in the Post-Ottoman Period
    Between Middle Eastern Heterodoxy, Indigenization and Modern Shi'ism: Competing Identities among the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi Communities in the Post-Ottoman Period Yuri Stoyanov The post-Ottoman evolution, interchange and occasional contrariety between traditional (and/or inherited) and ascribed (in the modern period) Alevi and Bektashi identities in the Balkans is part of the larger process of the transformation, reform and ever-changing politics of identity of heterodox religious communities in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East following the fragmentation and disestablishment of the Ottoman empire after World War 1. The phenomenon of the ongoing characteristic revival and re-conceptualizations of Alevism in Turkey and the Alevi diaspora in Western Europe since the late 1980s and their diverse religious, cultural and social manifestations has been explored by historians, political scientists, theologians, anthropologists, sociologists, ethnomusicologists and so on, and their respective perspectives and methodologies, with some of the research coming from within the Alevi community. This rediscovery of Anatolian Alevism (Alevilik) in the scholarly and public sphere has not been accompanied (with few exceptions) by a similarly pronounced interest (or comparable publications output) in the contemporaneous, if often differing processes among the existing ethno-religious Alevi groups in the Balkans and the (variously related to them) surviving or revived regional networks and lodges of the Bektashi dervish order. Hence the purpose of this article is to draw attention to these processes and the promising vistas for future research they offer.1 The fact that many of the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi groups have remained little-known, 'barely researched'2 communities is certainly regrettable.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study in the Theory and Practice of Destabilization: Violence and Strategies of Survival in Ottoman Macedonia (1903-1913)
    Gábor Demeter Krisztián Csaplár-Degovics A Study in the Theory and Practice of Destabilization: Violence and Strategies of Survival in Ottoman Macedonia (1903-1913) 1 This study has been supported by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This book was produced under the auspices of the Research Centre for the Humanities of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and with the support of the National Bank of Hungary. Gábor Demeter, PhD (2007) in History and (2008) in Earth Sciences at Debrecen University is a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of History (Budapest). His main research topics are: social and economic development on the Balkan Peninsula, diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and the Balkan States (1878-1914), historical geography of Hungary in 19th century. Secretary of the Bulgarian–Hungarian Joint Academic Commission of Historians and editor of the Hungarian Historical Review. Habilitated in 2017 at Debrecen University. Krisztián Csaplár-Degovics, PhD in History (2008, Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest) is a senior research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of History (Budapest), leader of the Department for Southeastern European Studies (2015-2017). Formerly he taught at the Eötvös Loránd University (2008-2012), he was an academic co-worker of the Südost-Institut in Munich (2003-2004) and of the Library of the Albanien-Institut at the Institute for East European History (University of Vienna, 2005-2006). Currently he deals with the Balkan-policy of Austria-Hungary, the nation- and state-building processes in the Balkans, Humanitarian Interventions in the Balkans and with the history of Albania, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia in the 19th and 20th century.
    [Show full text]