WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.900 And now is the turn of Eugenia Vitello from the Sorbonne Universite. 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:11.240 She's going to present, and she has been waiting here, Invoking the God, 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:14.822 the Use of Christian Invocations and Imagery on Dreaded 00:00:14.823 --> 00:00:18.020 Vessels Across the Post-Roman Mediterranean Sea. 00:00:18.915 --> 00:00:21.400 Eugenia, thank you very much for being here. 00:00:21.770 --> 00:00:22.770 Sorry for the delay. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:24.180 And the floor is yours. 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:27.120 Thank you very much for the presentation. 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.389 And also thank you, Pablo and Beatriz, for the 00:00:31.390 --> 00:00:34.700 invitation to participate in this amazing event. 00:00:35.249 --> 00:00:39.520 I want to say from the beginning that I'm very, very sorry for not being there in 00:00:39.521 --> 00:00:42.751 person and not being as proactive and participating in the 00:00:42.752 --> 00:00:45.240 amazing discussion to all the papers as I would have wanted. 00:00:45.440 --> 00:00:48.751 I just known a few weeks ago that the event would be 00:00:48.752 --> 00:00:54.160 in the same weeks as I would have the need for it. 00:00:54.180 --> 00:00:55.800 So I need to move to another country. 00:00:56.129 --> 00:01:04.080 So this is my absence in presence is not due to disrespect for the amazing work 00:01:04.229 --> 00:01:07.980 that the organizers and the other colleagues speaking here have been doing. 00:01:08.020 --> 00:01:10.320 But it's just out of sheer logistics problems. 00:01:11.479 --> 00:01:17.260 I also want to thank from the start the Aphrodisians Excavations, because this 00:01:17.559 --> 00:01:21.820 talk stems from a project that I've been working on in cooperation with the 00:01:21.821 --> 00:01:24.160 research team, where I'm leading a research project on. 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:29.940 Stamped Late Roman Unguentaria, to which I will refer throughout the paper as LRUs. 00:01:30.999 --> 00:01:34.296 And this actually opened the door to a wealth of 00:01:34.346 --> 00:01:37.820 material which inspired also this present paper. 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:42.920 In terms of topic and argument of the paper, I will be starting from these LRUs, 00:01:43.569 --> 00:01:46.960 which are secular vessels for long distance trade in the Late Roman Mediterranean. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:51.460 And I will argue that their commerce was actually effectively boosted and 00:01:51.461 --> 00:01:53.560 popularized with the reference to Christian values. 00:01:53.561 --> 00:01:56.060 And imagery in their trademarks. 00:01:56.859 --> 00:02:00.500 So this Christian imagery provided a common cultural language in the Babelic 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:02.965 post-Roman Mediterranean, thus providing a 00:02:02.966 --> 00:02:04.860 unifying framework in an age of fragmentation. 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:10.020 So rather than speaking about plural gods in a unified Mediterranean, I will be 00:02:10.021 --> 00:02:13.800 talking about a single god in a fragmented and plural Mediterranean. 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.880 In terms of the structure of the paper, I will talk through five main sections. 00:02:20.881 --> 00:02:24.177 So I will be starting with an overview on the LRUs, 00:02:24.178 --> 00:02:26.820 the use, content and production of these vessels. 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:34.160 Despite the great interest that has been arising on this class of material among 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:38.832 ceramists and epigraphers to a certain extent, they 00:02:38.833 --> 00:02:41.720 are not very well known in the academic circles. 00:02:41.721 --> 00:02:44.961 So I think a little bit of background on this class of material is actually needed 00:02:45.210 --> 00:02:46.820 to understand my ensuing argument. 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:50.700 Then I will be talking about the stamp. 00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:55.020 These are stamps that can be found in some of the LRUs, which kind of authorities 00:02:55.021 --> 00:03:00.075 stamped these vessels, for which kind of function 00:03:00.076 --> 00:03:03.340 and so which kind of trade and tax implications. 00:03:05.255 --> 00:03:10.940 The third part is actually where religion comes in, because I will be talking about 00:03:10.941 --> 00:03:14.776 the iconography of stamps related to prayers or 00:03:14.777 --> 00:03:17.680 invocations and images of martyrs and saints. 00:03:18.510 --> 00:03:22.040 And after we'll be looking at these examples together, I will then provide 00:03:22.041 --> 00:03:27.160 some words about significance and the meaning of these stamps for long-distance 00:03:27.161 --> 00:03:30.109 trade, the effect this religious language had for 00:03:30.110 --> 00:03:33.020 long-distance trade, before giving a few words of conclusion. 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:41.560 So, onguentaria, in the literal meaning of oil vessels, are one of the most common 00:03:41.561 --> 00:03:43.627 utensils from the archaic to the early 00:03:43.628 --> 00:03:46.140 Byzantine periods in the Mediterranean overall. 00:03:46.910 --> 00:03:49.900 Despite the very high levels of regional and chronological differentiation, 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:53.720 the distinct use of narrow-necked terracotta or glass bottles to keep 00:03:53.721 --> 00:03:57.160 perfumes or oil substances is actually widely attested. 00:03:57.705 --> 00:04:01.323 I put on the slide just a few examples to give an idea of 00:04:01.324 --> 00:04:04.980 the chronological and also the material span that they cover. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.442 So, starting from the top one with the red figures 00:04:09.443 --> 00:04:12.540 on black paint, this is of course Athenian. 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:15.680 This is a terracotta alabastron from early 5th century BCE. 00:04:16.550 --> 00:04:20.560 The one below is from Iliberri near Granada. 00:04:20.561 --> 00:04:23.540 So, from Iberia, from the 4th century BCE. 00:04:23.640 --> 00:04:24.980 And this is a glass alabastron. 00:04:26.025 --> 00:04:31.060 The one on the really left-hand side of the slide, it's another terracotta 00:04:31.061 --> 00:04:37.120 alabastron from Thessaloniki, from the Hellenistic or Roman period. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:44.680 Then there is also a selection right below the text of terracotta onguentaria from a 00:04:44.681 --> 00:04:48.780 necropolis in Cume, in southern Italy, from the 1st century BCE. 00:04:49.530 --> 00:04:50.716 And the one with the blue lines. 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:54.120 The one with the black background is a glass balsamarium from Late Antique 00:04:54.220 --> 00:05:00.160 Sardinia, still in Italy, but very later than the ones that I've been showing. 00:05:01.930 --> 00:05:06.800 More specifically, LRUs are a very peculiar class of unguentaria. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:12.240 I tried to summarize all the specific characteristics of this typology on the slide. 00:05:12.840 --> 00:05:17.040 So, they are dated very, very weirdly only from the 5th to the 7th century CE. 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.520 So, basically, they appear in the 5th century. 00:05:20.521 --> 00:05:22.520 And they completely disappear after the 7th. 00:05:23.890 --> 00:05:27.280 They are found usually in contexts associated with religious, commercial, 00:05:27.580 --> 00:05:28.580 and domestic area. 00:05:29.555 --> 00:05:31.857 Their typology is inscribed in a line of 00:05:31.858 --> 00:05:34.160 continuity with previous oil vessel traditions. 00:05:34.340 --> 00:05:37.480 But at the same time, their almost complete disappearance for bullion 00:05:37.481 --> 00:05:40.039 contexts and the specific characteristics turn them into 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.620 examples of a quite radical shift in their forms and functions. 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:48.620 So, the main features to identify LRU are typology, stamping, and fabric. 00:05:48.621 --> 00:05:53.780 In terms of typology, they are slender, thin-necked bottles, crafted on the 00:05:53.781 --> 00:05:57.540 potter's wheel within a single operation, and they cannot stand unsupported. 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:03.000 They also have very strong and almost waterproof hard-fired clay, which is a 00:06:03.125 --> 00:06:08.660 sign that they probably contained oils or liquids or more liquid ointments. 00:06:09.895 --> 00:06:13.840 They are usually found in three different dimensions, between 18 and 21 centimeters 00:06:13.841 --> 00:06:18.020 tall, with a capacity that varies from 30 to 170 milliliters. 00:06:18.670 --> 00:06:23.600 The lower part of their body is usually stamped on 16.5% of the exemplars, 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:27.265 and the most common stamps have usually the form of 00:06:27.315 --> 00:06:29.700 a monogram or another form of graphic identifier. 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:35.760 The image that I put on the slide, it's very meaningful to me, but in the 00:06:35.761 --> 00:06:40.880 ceramist community, not only because it shows the three different sizes of 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:44.580 unguentari, and these are the ones found in the excavation from Istanbul, 00:06:45.290 --> 00:06:50.160 but also because this comes from the very first publication, from 1968, where John 00:06:50.161 --> 00:06:54.540 Hyas actually identified and named for the first time this class of materials. 00:06:54.820 --> 00:06:57.943 So this is the very first appearance of later 00:06:57.944 --> 00:07:00.500 monogentaria in our scholarly production. 00:07:03.830 --> 00:07:08.040 They knew an extremely wide circulation in the Mediterranean. 00:07:08.825 --> 00:07:11.303 As the map shows, they have been found in more than 00:07:11.304 --> 00:07:13.600 80 locations with more concentration in the east. 00:07:14.390 --> 00:07:16.628 But also as far as the Atlantic coast of the Iberian 00:07:16.629 --> 00:07:19.380 Peninsula, this is the number one on the map. 00:07:20.820 --> 00:07:24.640 The denser concentration in the east makes it believable that the major production 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:27.740 centres were possibly located in southwestern Anatolia. 00:07:28.255 --> 00:07:32.320 And this is actually confirmed by some of the analysis that we performed in the 00:07:32.321 --> 00:07:36.060 Aphrodisian samples, which have yielded some very new and interesting insights. 00:07:37.220 --> 00:07:42.860 So the Aphrodisian documentation is constituted by more than 350 exemplars. 00:07:43.030 --> 00:07:44.860 These are only the stamped ones. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.960 So these are a little more than 15% of the total. 00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:50.900 Just to give you an idea of the numbers. 00:07:51.730 --> 00:07:54.859 I'm actually in the process of publishing them right now, 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.520 together with the clay composition and lipid residue analysis. 00:07:57.760 --> 00:08:01.940 I put a little bit of information on these slides. 00:08:02.795 --> 00:08:06.320 From the clay composition analysis, we found that the molecular structure of 00:08:06.321 --> 00:08:10.060 the vessel's clay is not completely uniform, but it rather seems to indicate 00:08:10.061 --> 00:08:13.180 the existence of at least four or five different centres of production, 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.480 most likely circumscribed to Anatolia. 00:08:17.270 --> 00:08:21.540 And moreover, the most represented group, which is around 80% of the total, 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:27.640 it's compatible with the clay fabric of the Aphrodisian amphorae. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:33.460 So almost certainly, Aphrodisia is actually one of the productive centres of LRUs. 00:08:34.119 --> 00:08:36.940 Another productive centre is maybe Laudicae ad Licum. 00:08:37.499 --> 00:08:43.600 There is a stamp published by Alcatch in 2017, where there may... 00:08:43.749 --> 00:08:49.260 probably it reads of the Laudicaeans, so maybe it represents the place of 00:08:49.261 --> 00:08:51.360 production, but it's not completely certain. 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:58.320 As I said, the containers had a very small capacity, and this could indicate that 00:08:58.321 --> 00:09:01.700 their content was a concentrated substance sold in fixed quantities. 00:09:02.429 --> 00:09:06.500 As residue analysis performed on some of the samples showed traces of animal fat, 00:09:07.249 --> 00:09:10.140 this suggests the presence of anointment or another similar concoction. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:15.360 And this is comparable with the analysis in Hierapolis and in Sagalassus, 00:09:15.385 --> 00:09:18.980 where they found traces of vegetable oils and of animal fat. 00:09:19.709 --> 00:09:23.180 And this led to the hypothesis that the vessels probably contained a balm with 00:09:23.181 --> 00:09:25.235 aromatic or medicinal properties, probably 00:09:25.236 --> 00:09:27.300 produced through the presence of effleurage. 00:09:28.424 --> 00:09:31.880 When we were on site brainstorming possible contents, it's been pointed out, 00:09:32.119 --> 00:09:34.071 and I think very rightly, that any kind of 00:09:34.072 --> 00:09:36.480 ointment or balm must have been extremely liquid. 00:09:37.194 --> 00:09:39.980 And this is proved not only by the fact that the clay was treated as to be 00:09:39.981 --> 00:09:44.200 waterproof, but also by the fact that the vessel's neck is extremely narrow. 00:09:44.201 --> 00:09:48.720 So even using tools to scoop out a more solid material would result in wasting a 00:09:48.721 --> 00:09:52.140 lot of the content, and this would be not worthwhile in the end. 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.940 So, as I said, for their peculiarity and for the large number of examples found, 00:09:59.300 --> 00:10:02.340 Late Roman and Guentari have attracted the attention of ceramic experts and 00:10:02.341 --> 00:10:05.840 epigraphists who have tried to locate their production centers and decode the 00:10:05.841 --> 00:10:09.320 monograms stamped on a fraction of the vessels in order to get a sense of what 00:10:09.321 --> 00:10:11.875 their content was and why they knew so well the circulation 00:10:11.876 --> 00:10:13.916 in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Mediterranean. 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:17.340 The previous and more common interpretation you may find in the 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:21.400 literature is that there was a single productive center in the Jordan area, 00:10:22.125 --> 00:10:26.880 and these were reliquaries for the Jordan water or other holy liquid substances, 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:34.180 maybe oil, but since, I mean, up until very recent years, there was no 00:10:34.181 --> 00:10:42.120 possibility to do systematic residue analysis, so as there was no clear 00:10:42.121 --> 00:10:47.080 detectable residue in most cases, without specific analysis, the hypotheses 00:10:47.081 --> 00:10:49.680 were actually limited in number for early scholars. 00:10:51.269 --> 00:10:56.420 Within this interpretation, the stamps belonged to bishops, which had the 00:10:56.421 --> 00:11:01.920 authority to certify the authenticity of the relics inside the vessel. 00:11:02.319 --> 00:11:06.720 So, in this interpretation, this vessel would be similar to the Minas Sampule, 00:11:06.721 --> 00:11:10.279 which are common from the Eastern Mediterranean, 00:11:10.280 --> 00:11:14.160 and they are pilgrimage souvenirs, so to speak. 00:11:15.789 --> 00:11:19.500 The data that I presented so far seemed to point in the direction of overcoming this 00:11:19.550 --> 00:11:23.560 traditional explanation of the function and meaning of the vessels and their stamps. 00:11:24.339 --> 00:11:27.980 Although a lot is still to be done for a correct understanding of the vessels, 00:11:28.384 --> 00:11:32.280 the evident formal uniformity and the results from this latest analysis hint to 00:11:32.281 --> 00:11:35.200 a completely different picture than the Jordan relics reconstruction. 00:11:36.489 --> 00:11:40.600 Personally, my working hypothesis is that we are witnessing a phenomenon of 00:11:40.601 --> 00:11:45.320 large-scale export of a balm-like product in high demand, probably derived from some 00:11:45.321 --> 00:11:48.960 basic ingredient that was locally harvested in Anatolia and then popularised 00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:50.379 through long-distance trade. 00:11:51.099 --> 00:11:55.720 This product would have become such a sought-after Anatolian luxury to justify 00:11:55.721 --> 00:11:59.620 its trade all over the Mediterranean basin, as illustrated in the previous map, 00:12:00.094 --> 00:12:03.320 with a circulation that cannot be purely casual or episodic. 00:12:04.709 --> 00:12:08.560 This overcoming of the spiritual-religious meaning of the LRUs toward a more trade 00:12:08.561 --> 00:12:12.640 and circulation-related explanation is rooted not only on the archaeological 00:12:12.641 --> 00:12:16.720 data, but on the prosopographical information derived from the stamps themselves. 00:12:18.239 --> 00:12:22.379 As I mentioned, LRUs present a stamp in the lower part 00:12:22.380 --> 00:12:26.780 of their body on slightly more than 15% of the samples. 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:32.320 Probably this is a result of batch stamping, a practice that is commonly used 00:12:32.569 --> 00:12:36.500 throughout antiquity and beyond to check, control and seal great quantities of goods 00:12:36.501 --> 00:12:40.860 to quantify and certify them for trade or tax-related purposes. 00:12:42.119 --> 00:12:47.980 Most of the LRU stamps and some sites, more than 90% of LRU stamps, present a monogram. 00:12:48.769 --> 00:12:52.100 The reason why monograms are so heavily overrepresented in comparison with 00:12:52.249 --> 00:12:57.040 figurative stamps lie in their extreme popularity in signature seals belonging to 00:12:57.041 --> 00:13:00.320 the members of the civic or ecclesiastical hierarchies or, broadly speaking, 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.920 the upper classes from the 5th century CE. 00:13:03.334 --> 00:13:08.060 So from the 4th-6th century CE they quickly became a very widespread graphic 00:13:08.061 --> 00:13:10.520 sign of political, social and economic authority. 00:13:10.521 --> 00:13:13.960 As has been pointed out by Garib Stanov. 00:13:15.079 --> 00:13:19.840 You can see on the slide just a few examples of the very wide range of 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:25.880 different media where you could have found monograms and graphic identifiers in the 00:13:25.881 --> 00:13:29.280 late Roman world, both in Latin and in Greek. 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:37.640 And the reading of the monograms on the LRUs usually gives us either an official 00:13:37.641 --> 00:13:40.360 title or a combination of title and individual name. 00:13:40.819 --> 00:13:45.520 For a 5th-7th century user, the message conveyed by LRU stamps would have been 00:13:45.521 --> 00:13:49.440 immediately intelligible, comparable to our recognition of brand logos, 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:50.600 basically. 00:13:50.729 --> 00:13:55.020 The graphic form would have enhanced the monogram's intelligibility as well as the 00:13:55.119 --> 00:13:58.740 full immersion in a now-lost historical framework in which signs and messages 00:13:58.741 --> 00:14:02.680 related to the stamps may have also existed externally to the LRU. 00:14:03.079 --> 00:14:07.200 In other words, the same or similar monograms may have appeared on a wide 00:14:07.201 --> 00:14:10.532 range of media, from coins to inscriptions to papyri to 00:14:10.533 --> 00:14:13.840 monuments, that were used daily in the late Roman world. 00:14:16.464 --> 00:14:19.840 Unfortunately, much of the background surrounding the production, sealing and 00:14:19.841 --> 00:14:22.220 commercialisation of these vessels has been lost over time. 00:14:23.144 --> 00:14:26.660 As a result, it is nearly impossible to piece together all the information about 00:14:26.661 --> 00:14:28.560 the people who created and used these seals. 00:14:29.069 --> 00:14:31.142 Nonetheless, it is possible to derive some 00:14:31.143 --> 00:14:33.280 useful information from LRU monograms as well. 00:14:34.244 --> 00:14:37.960 We have a very wide range of titles represented, both civic and ecclesiastical. 00:14:38.040 --> 00:14:40.060 Among the ecclesiastical offices, we have the title of the LRU, the more 00:14:40.061 --> 00:14:45.920 represented are bishops, and then we also find archbishops and metropolitai, 00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:47.500 vicarii or economoi. 00:14:48.124 --> 00:14:50.714 Among the civic officers, we find urban prefects, 00:14:50.774 --> 00:14:52.800 consuls, patricii, cubicolarii, emperors. 00:14:52.999 --> 00:14:57.140 For example, the one that I put on the slide, this is not clear if it reads of 00:14:57.141 --> 00:14:59.540 the emperor or of the imperial cubicolarium. 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:07.900 The root of the word basileus is clearly visible, but I'm not sure whether either 00:15:07.901 --> 00:15:12.885 of the readings is correct, but it's clear that it 00:15:12.886 --> 00:15:16.540 belongs to the imperial house or imperial production. 00:15:18.489 --> 00:15:24.280 The only common denominator among these officers lies in their hierarchically 00:15:24.504 --> 00:15:27.544 structured involvement in managerial and administrative duties in an economic 00:15:27.724 --> 00:15:31.900 sense, either through the ownership of estates and productive factories or the 00:15:31.901 --> 00:15:35.040 administration of goods circulating for trade or tax-related purposes. 00:15:35.749 --> 00:15:39.860 Even the bishops were actually involved in this economic exchange network as key 00:15:39.861 --> 00:15:42.040 agents of production and circulation of commodities. 00:15:42.734 --> 00:15:45.646 There are clear indications of the increasing role of oversight, discretion 00:15:45.670 --> 00:15:49.380 and responsibility from an economic point of view on the part of the bishop, 00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:53.200 who becomes himself a large landowner and a pragmatic manager of properties. 00:15:54.839 --> 00:15:59.320 All these material features, the fine spots, clay, residue analysis of their 00:15:59.321 --> 00:16:03.320 elder use, converged to disprove the theory that these vessels were produced in 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:07.020 a single centre as reliquaries, or all these souvenirs sold in situ and 00:16:07.021 --> 00:16:11.600 then spread to their various Mediterranean fine spots once the pilgrims who purchased 00:16:11.601 --> 00:16:13.500 them returned from their spiritual journeys. 00:16:14.289 --> 00:16:17.163 They indeed prove that these vessels have actually 00:16:17.164 --> 00:16:20.040 nothing to do with religious matters at all. 00:16:21.109 --> 00:16:25.665 So the monograms and the variety of offices and 00:16:25.715 --> 00:16:28.820 titles they mention strengthen this reconstruction. 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.720 The messages these monograms would have conveyed was primarily economic. 00:16:33.749 --> 00:16:35.080 The stamps appear to be in a line of order. 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:37.740 They have continuity with previous practices of branding goods and 00:16:37.889 --> 00:16:40.338 commodities as a meal to control their production, 00:16:40.339 --> 00:16:42.660 circulation and the tax regime that applied to them. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:47.180 So elder use monograms ended up representing either brands of competing 00:16:47.181 --> 00:16:50.920 producers of the vessels and their contents, or the magistrates overseeing 00:16:50.921 --> 00:16:52.720 their trade circulation and fiscal liability. 00:16:53.624 --> 00:16:57.460 Even when the monograms carry bishops' names, so in the majority of cases, 00:16:58.269 --> 00:17:01.480 they are probably identifying manufacturers intended as owners of the 00:17:01.481 --> 00:17:03.720 productive plants where the vessels were produced. 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:08.260 Sedent civic officers appear alongside the ecclesiastical figures and in the same 00:17:08.261 --> 00:17:11.780 capacity, they are all likely to have been involved in market-oriented competition 00:17:11.781 --> 00:17:15.518 for the production and long-distance export of elder use 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:18.460 or in acting as authorities regulating their circulations. 00:17:20.129 --> 00:17:23.260 Still, some stamps recovered on elder use do 00:17:23.261 --> 00:17:26.220 express messages that appear as purely religious. 00:17:26.919 --> 00:17:30.325 So as you can see, we have only one single monogram 00:17:30.425 --> 00:17:32.820 among those, the ones that I could identify. 00:17:32.821 --> 00:17:35.617 And this is only done on the basis of the 00:17:35.618 --> 00:17:37.860 available corpus from the Eastern Mediterranean. 00:17:38.999 --> 00:17:42.640 So the one right below the title, this is a monogram invocation, 00:17:43.209 --> 00:17:47.920 which reads, Maria oethi, Maria oetei, so please, Mary, help. 00:17:48.694 --> 00:17:50.460 This is quite common. 00:17:50.889 --> 00:17:52.540 It's found on seals. 00:17:52.894 --> 00:17:56.460 You can find several examples also in the Dumbarton Oaks database collection. 00:17:57.389 --> 00:18:03.190 But as a stamped monogram on elder use, it's found in vessels from Aphrodisias, 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:05.630 Knisus, Sagalassus, Myra, and Smyrna. 00:18:06.629 --> 00:18:09.770 Even more interesting are the ones who are iconographic. 00:18:10.625 --> 00:18:14.610 So the ten that I put on the slide, and I put also a scale for reference to 00:18:14.611 --> 00:18:21.970 make you understand the actual size of these very intricate designs sometimes. 00:18:22.969 --> 00:18:26.490 So the first three are iterations of a cross-shaped symbol. 00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:28.998 The very first one, which is a cross inscribed in a 00:18:29.018 --> 00:18:32.030 circle and repeated thrice, it's found very interesting. 00:18:32.050 --> 00:18:33.590 In all the Mediterranean, actually. 00:18:33.630 --> 00:18:37.115 It's found in Aphrodisias, Ephesus, Constantinople, 00:18:37.116 --> 00:18:39.550 but also in Carthage and Tauheria in the west. 00:18:42.729 --> 00:18:47.450 The fourth and fifth are exemplars found only in Aphrodisias. 00:18:47.739 --> 00:18:51.130 So they are examples of knightly saints. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.630 The first one is a very detailed depiction of two hallowed horsemen, which are 00:18:55.631 --> 00:18:57.810 running towards each other, with a very small 00:18:57.811 --> 00:18:59.650 and now unreadable inscription underneath. 00:19:00.610 --> 00:19:01.610 And... 00:19:02.050 --> 00:19:08.570 there is also a very small image between their heads, which seems to be a Christ 00:19:08.694 --> 00:19:12.332 bust on a flame, which is usually found also in icons 00:19:12.333 --> 00:19:14.790 of St. Sergius and Bacchus from the same period. 00:19:15.004 --> 00:19:18.956 So this is what led me to the identification of the 00:19:18.957 --> 00:19:22.170 pair of hallowed horsemen as Sergius and Bacchus. 00:19:22.729 --> 00:19:26.350 The other is probably another hallowed horseman with armour and cross. 00:19:26.510 --> 00:19:31.850 Maybe it could represent St. Demetrius, which is one of the most widely worshipped 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.890 knightly saints in the east in this period. 00:19:36.459 --> 00:19:40.430 The sixth has been found in Cnidus, and this is another example of an hallowed man. 00:19:40.610 --> 00:19:44.070 This time he is holding a cross-shaped staff. 00:19:44.904 --> 00:19:48.710 And he has another unidentifiable attribute on the left. 00:19:48.879 --> 00:19:55.510 This is probably a saint, while the seventh example from Ephesus is probably 00:19:55.511 --> 00:19:58.170 an angel, because you can see he is still hallowed. 00:19:58.171 --> 00:20:02.930 He has a cross-shaped staff, but there seems to be some sort of wings on his back. 00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:08.130 So it may seem to be representing an angel, maybe St. Michael, which seems to 00:20:08.131 --> 00:20:11.370 be also referenced in some other monograms, but it's not clear. 00:20:12.959 --> 00:20:15.430 Then we have eight and nine found from Lymyra. 00:20:16.269 --> 00:20:21.230 The editors of the corpus from Lymyra, which published the corpus in 1999, 00:20:22.790 --> 00:20:26.210 identified both of them as St. Minas. 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:30.430 The first one, I can kind of see because there is another hallowed man standing 00:20:30.431 --> 00:20:33.080 with two unidentifiable figures on his side, 00:20:33.081 --> 00:20:35.670 and they are probably the camels of St. Minas. 00:20:36.499 --> 00:20:41.590 But the other one seems to be a fisherman on a boat, so I thought it could actually 00:20:41.591 --> 00:20:44.250 reference the iconographic cycle of St. Peter Simon. 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:47.492 The last one is quite clear, the identification, 00:20:47.493 --> 00:20:50.190 because the name is actually inscribed on the stamp. 00:20:50.384 --> 00:20:53.670 It's St. Philip, found in Tripolis at Meandrum. 00:20:54.269 --> 00:20:55.750 He is represented hallowed, standing. 00:20:55.751 --> 00:20:58.210 He holds a cross-shaped staff and a crest. 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:02.270 There is an olive branch on the background, together with some jars, 00:21:02.629 --> 00:21:05.030 which may be a reference to the wedding arcana. 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:14.270 So as I spent more than half of the time allocated for my paper to try to convince 00:21:14.494 --> 00:21:18.910 you that religion has nothing to do with this vessel, how can we make sense of this 00:21:18.911 --> 00:21:21.610 evidence in the context of long-distance trade dynamics? 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:29.370 My main argument is that the use of sacred imageries, Marian invocations, 00:21:29.644 --> 00:21:32.030 crosses, depictions of saints, and geographical and archaeological 00:21:32.031 --> 00:21:35.170 schemes follows a twofold trade-oriented goal. 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:38.690 They could contain indirect reference to the producers. 00:21:39.169 --> 00:21:42.110 For example, the producers could be homonyms of saints represented, 00:21:42.944 --> 00:21:45.090 or also references to the place of production. 00:21:45.204 --> 00:21:49.190 So maybe there are cases where the production plants were actually near 00:21:49.439 --> 00:21:51.510 famous pilgrimage sites or shrines. 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:55.610 And the other goal is that they could express actual subtle messages in an 00:21:55.611 --> 00:21:58.190 attempt at marketing these luxury vessels in 00:21:58.191 --> 00:22:00.450 a phase of decline of interregional trade. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:04.630 In general, pottery production and circulation can serve as proxies for 00:22:04.631 --> 00:22:08.270 diverse socio-economic aspects, including craftsmanship, skill levels, 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:10.050 labour organisation and trade routes. 00:22:10.614 --> 00:22:15.630 And from this point of view, the 6th and 7th centuries are characterised by a 00:22:15.631 --> 00:22:20.850 noticeable decline in long-distance export of goods across the Mediterranean region, 00:22:20.851 --> 00:22:25.730 which helps us establish the lesser extent of imported goods and a growth of local or 00:22:25.731 --> 00:22:30.670 at most regional production, especially concerning widely consumed everyday wares. 00:22:31.499 --> 00:22:34.870 This complex picture aligns with theoretical models of how productive and 00:22:34.871 --> 00:22:38.910 commercial activity at a Mediterranean level functioned at a reduced integration 00:22:38.911 --> 00:22:43.650 scale during the late Roman and early Byzantine period, as most notably but not 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:46.470 sorely described by John Holden and Chris Wickham. 00:22:47.919 --> 00:22:51.510 In a context marked with momentous transformation and a trend towards the 00:22:51.511 --> 00:22:55.470 fragmentation of the commercial routes, a persistent strand of continuity is the 00:22:55.471 --> 00:22:59.630 widespread presence of stamped LRUs in the entire Mediterranean basin. 00:23:00.339 --> 00:23:04.730 Their continuous trade connecting the regionalised sea commerce showed that they 00:23:04.731 --> 00:23:10.250 constituted a luxury goods, thus escaping the new economic configuration shaped by 00:23:10.251 --> 00:23:13.590 local lower-class demand and a fragmented political power. 00:23:14.289 --> 00:23:17.350 In the case of the LRUs, the study of the monograms from all across the 00:23:17.351 --> 00:23:21.070 Mediterranean testified to broad-level interconnectivity of trade and circulation 00:23:21.071 --> 00:23:24.950 of goods between the 5th and 7th centuries, showing that commercial links 00:23:25.399 --> 00:23:27.470 still existed in this age of transition. 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:33.090 The massive quantity of stamped LRUs found from Iberia to Anatolia is evidence of the 00:23:33.091 --> 00:23:36.730 extent to which the producers of these commodities went to export their goods, 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.515 and at the same time of the popularity of this 00:23:39.516 --> 00:23:41.890 product way beyond its original manufacturing sites. 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:45.746 In this context, a great boost to the commercialisation of 00:23:45.747 --> 00:23:48.410 these vessels would be the use of markers of Christianity. 00:23:49.249 --> 00:23:53.830 Although not reduced to a mere marketing tool, a reference to a shared cultural and 00:23:53.831 --> 00:23:57.730 religious horizon beyond the newly formed boundaries of regional economic and 00:23:57.731 --> 00:24:00.552 political networks would ensure the appeal of LRUs 00:24:00.553 --> 00:24:02.950 beyond the emerging connectivity difficulties. 00:24:04.189 --> 00:24:07.490 This strategy, which Caroline Goodson has already noted for the commerce of 00:24:07.491 --> 00:24:11.670 late-antique North African lamps bearing Christograms, would thus be more directly 00:24:11.671 --> 00:24:15.650 linked to the necessity of the optimising struggling systems of production, 00:24:15.910 --> 00:24:18.930 circulation and transport and consumption of goods, and to emerging socio-economic 00:24:18.931 --> 00:24:22.830 authoritative actors such as bishops or monasteries as productive sites, 00:24:23.304 --> 00:24:25.310 rather than strictly liturgical aspects. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.770 Although Christianity in Madrid does not directly relate here to actual religious 00:24:29.771 --> 00:24:34.050 worship, it is highly meaningful that it is identified as the main vector through 00:24:34.051 --> 00:24:37.246 which a shared language of contact, communication and 00:24:37.247 --> 00:24:39.770 trade could be expressed in a frequent Mediterranean. 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:44.670 So, to conclude very briefly, despite the extremely secular function of LRUs, 00:24:45.269 --> 00:24:49.170 we have seen how their stamps not so rarely present a symbolic apparatus openly 00:24:49.171 --> 00:24:52.670 referencing the Christian religious horizon through prayers, invocation to 00:24:52.671 --> 00:24:56.630 Mary and even iconographic representation of hallowed figures that can be identified 00:24:56.631 --> 00:25:01.310 with martyrs and saints, objects of very popular worship. 00:25:02.179 --> 00:25:06.110 These sacred images had the extraordinary effect to popularise and possibly boost 00:25:06.111 --> 00:25:10.470 the commerce of LRUs through their reference to Christian values and cults in 00:25:10.669 --> 00:25:14.010 their trademarks, as religious sentiments and images linked to Christianity 00:25:14.011 --> 00:25:17.810 constituted a sort of common language in the post-Roman Mediterranean space. 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:22.830 They spoke to individuals beyond the post-imperial political fragmentation and 00:25:22.831 --> 00:25:26.490 thus effectively replaced imperial structures as the unifying backdrop 00:25:26.889 --> 00:25:31.230 allowing for an intermediterranean movement of people, objects and ideas. 00:25:32.069 --> 00:25:34.690 Thank you very much for your attention and for bearing with me. 00:25:38.989 --> 00:25:40.730 Thank you very much, Eugenia. 00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:42.270 Can you hear me well? 00:25:42.550 --> 00:25:43.026 Yes. 00:25:43.050 --> 00:25:44.050 Okay. 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:45.570 Do we have questions? 00:25:46.430 --> 00:25:49.250 If not, I have a couple of questions as well. 00:25:49.784 --> 00:25:51.910 Thank you very much for your interesting presentation. 00:25:53.370 --> 00:26:01.370 I like it because, different from the things we have had in the previous talks, 00:26:02.110 --> 00:26:07.250 your topic allows us a bit of a glimpse about the religious consumption, 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:13.870 let's say, or the offer-demand things beyond big churches, dedications, 00:26:14.030 --> 00:26:16.390 etc., because this is a different kind of religious circuit. 00:26:16.430 --> 00:26:22.850 So my question was, if you have tried to trace the evolution of religious 00:26:22.851 --> 00:26:27.490 iconography according to the religious changes of the Late Antiquity, 00:26:27.550 --> 00:26:31.770 like, for instance, the project of the cult of saints from Oxford, because we 00:26:31.771 --> 00:26:37.567 have the rising of the Marian cult after the Conquering of 00:26:37.568 --> 00:26:43.310 Ephesus, mammas and menas, they have different chronologies. 00:26:43.311 --> 00:26:45.490 For instance, Sergius has a specific chronology. 00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:52.510 Have you tried to link the supposed popularity of those cults with the 00:26:52.511 --> 00:26:55.194 chronology that your vessels allowed you to 00:26:55.195 --> 00:26:58.550 counter-arrest or confirm that supposed popularity? 00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:00.510 Thank you very much. 00:27:00.590 --> 00:27:01.830 This is an amazing observation. 00:27:02.250 --> 00:27:09.070 Yes, I have used extensively the cult of saints database, especially when I was 00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:10.959 trying to identify the hallowed horsemen. 00:27:11.449 --> 00:27:16.050 So I looked quite extensively at the iconography of saintly knights. 00:27:16.051 --> 00:27:19.650 Especially in the East and I tried also to widen it to the West. 00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:23.590 But since I was fairly sure that the site of production were from the Eastern 00:27:23.591 --> 00:27:26.910 Mediterranean, then it made sense to start from there. 00:27:27.534 --> 00:27:32.650 I actually didn't remember the point that you raised about the cult of Mary, 00:27:32.770 --> 00:27:37.130 which is a brutal oversight on my part, but this is actually a great insight. 00:27:37.210 --> 00:27:37.846 Thank you very much. 00:27:37.870 --> 00:27:45.050 So, yeah, this would actually confirm why we have found several stumps where Mary is 00:27:45.051 --> 00:27:47.970 actually invoked as protector of these vessels. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:54.510 As I also mentioned, there are, I mean, I think the first most represented 00:27:54.511 --> 00:27:59.810 or the second most represented stump overall from the entire Mediterranean is a 00:27:59.811 --> 00:28:02.947 stump which seems to read Michael, which is probably, since 00:28:02.948 --> 00:28:06.630 we don't have any other title, it's probably the archangel. 00:28:07.429 --> 00:28:12.410 But I have no clue whether this is actually related to the cult of Saint 00:28:12.411 --> 00:28:17.630 Michael, or it's just someone who happened to be named Michael. 00:28:17.810 --> 00:28:23.654 But I mean, given the sheer number of volume of finds, it's 00:28:23.655 --> 00:28:27.430 like eight or nine times any other stump we have found. 00:28:27.739 --> 00:28:31.096 So it's probably more religious practice than an individual 00:28:31.097 --> 00:28:35.710 who happened to stump so many batches, basically. 00:28:36.689 --> 00:28:39.390 But yeah, I mean, the chronology is a great part. 00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:42.810 Since they have a very strict chronological range, it's a great part. 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:46.174 The chronology of cults and chronology of 00:28:46.175 --> 00:28:49.910 production is a great help to understand better. 00:28:50.110 --> 00:28:54.550 It would be actually interesting to see a mismatch between literary sources and the 00:28:54.551 --> 00:28:56.933 material sources about what is really popular 00:28:56.934 --> 00:28:59.270 and what the sources are telling us is popular. 00:28:59.889 --> 00:29:00.929 Yeah, thank you very much. 00:29:01.130 --> 00:29:02.130 Thank you. 00:29:02.370 --> 00:29:04.450 Do we have more questions, Bea? 00:29:05.339 --> 00:29:08.406 Thank you, Eugenia, for this wonderful presentation 00:29:08.407 --> 00:29:11.810 and for putting the focus on these smaller objects. 00:29:12.889 --> 00:29:15.756 Precisely those portable objects that may trace 00:29:15.757 --> 00:29:18.930 religious nobility and sometimes more easily than us. 00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:26.610 I was wondering about the context of these objects, especially if they have been 00:29:26.611 --> 00:29:29.495 found in association with other small objects 00:29:29.496 --> 00:29:31.790 that may have been used in cultic practices. 00:29:32.644 --> 00:29:35.330 Eugenia, you can say something about this. 00:29:35.850 --> 00:29:36.640 Yes. 00:29:36.664 --> 00:29:41.790 So a big part of why they were understood as primarily religious objects, 00:29:41.810 --> 00:29:49.190 in the past, is that most of the findings were reported to have been found near 00:29:49.350 --> 00:29:53.855 churches, which seem to be arising in the same 00:29:53.930 --> 00:29:58.550 period as the actual circulation of the goods. 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:04.690 However, if we look back at all the documentation and we look at the actual 00:30:04.691 --> 00:30:09.312 fine spots of these objects, we find that most of the 00:30:09.332 --> 00:30:14.210 unguentaria found in churches are found in rubbish deposits. 00:30:14.869 --> 00:30:17.170 So it seems that they are not actually... 00:30:17.779 --> 00:30:20.290 they are either in destruction layers or rubbish deposits. 00:30:20.499 --> 00:30:23.977 They are not actually found in context whether we can ascertain 00:30:23.978 --> 00:30:27.390 if they were actually used inside the churches or not. 00:30:28.164 --> 00:30:32.483 And also, overall, I think around 10% of all the 00:30:32.484 --> 00:30:35.430 unguentaria are actually found in the churches. 00:30:35.550 --> 00:30:37.949 Of course, in the past, it was easier to spot 00:30:37.950 --> 00:30:42.570 unguentaria in churches because churches were sectors... 00:30:42.744 --> 00:30:45.901 the late-antique sectors of cities that were better 00:30:45.902 --> 00:30:48.650 excavated or better documented in excavations. 00:30:49.610 --> 00:30:52.390 Now that we have more samples from... 00:30:52.639 --> 00:31:00.250 and more systematic excavations from lived sectors, so marketplace, domestic areas, 00:31:01.869 --> 00:31:09.250 we have a few, like, thermopolia also, where people actually ate. 00:31:09.909 --> 00:31:14.650 Where we have huge quantities of unguentaria found, it may seem that they 00:31:14.651 --> 00:31:17.515 are not linked to religious practice, but their 00:31:17.516 --> 00:31:21.790 actual use is more linked to everyday functions. 00:31:22.670 --> 00:31:26.270 Since we have so many unguentaria and thermopolia, 00:31:26.369 --> 00:31:28.650 someone thinks they are a condiment, probably. 00:31:28.810 --> 00:31:30.310 They are a vessel for a condiment. 00:31:31.410 --> 00:31:39.204 But we also have huge quantities from baths, so they also may contain oils for. 00:31:39.205 --> 00:31:39.190 .. 00:31:39.191 --> 00:31:40.710 for body... 00:31:42.710 --> 00:31:46.510 I mean, for body use and self-care. 00:31:46.969 --> 00:31:50.990 So we are not very sure, but it seems that the ones that we found in churches are not 00:31:50.991 --> 00:31:56.090 actually representing actual context of use. 00:31:57.370 --> 00:31:58.370 Thank you. 00:31:58.414 --> 00:31:59.574 I think it's a fine question. 00:31:59.710 --> 00:32:00.710 It's beautiful. 00:32:00.830 --> 00:32:01.830 Thank you. 00:32:03.929 --> 00:32:04.970 There's no more questions? 00:32:05.950 --> 00:32:06.950 I... 00:32:07.324 --> 00:32:08.630 You mentioned Michael. 00:32:08.631 --> 00:32:13.910 I didn't want to enter there, but I was curious also, because Anatolia is one of 00:32:13.911 --> 00:32:16.470 the main centers of Michael cult, like Frigia. 00:32:17.149 --> 00:32:22.160 And then recently, Michel passed away, but he was also researching 00:32:22.161 --> 00:32:25.330 about the cult inside of Anatolia and Robert Wisniewski. 00:32:25.590 --> 00:32:31.030 And I had interest to see also, because speaking with Robert, like the 00:32:31.031 --> 00:32:35.450 idea of the popularity of the name as a consequence of this cult spreading. 00:32:35.650 --> 00:32:38.610 And perhaps, do you have both things together in your study? 00:32:38.630 --> 00:32:39.710 Is it a possibility? 00:32:40.450 --> 00:32:41.066 Yeah. 00:32:41.090 --> 00:32:41.586 Thank you. 00:32:41.610 --> 00:32:41.786 Yeah. 00:32:41.810 --> 00:32:48.610 This is one of the ideas, because I mean, it seems since they are like a very small 00:32:48.611 --> 00:32:53.350 percentage are related to saints or to names of saints. 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:59.670 It seems to me that people are actually using these saints to represent like 00:32:59.794 --> 00:33:01.690 homonyms of their own names. 00:33:01.829 --> 00:33:07.830 And as you said, there is a very widespread of names related to specific cults. 00:33:07.831 --> 00:33:12.350 From the fourth century onwards, just to think about Perpetua or Thecla. 00:33:13.099 --> 00:33:15.150 Michel is another big one. 00:33:16.250 --> 00:33:21.710 Demetrius as well from fifth century and a bit later from Greece. 00:33:22.029 --> 00:33:27.770 So we have a lot of these namesakes, which I probably used to identify 00:33:27.771 --> 00:33:32.690 competing producer who are homonyms of this very huge popular saints. 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:37.610 But maybe they are trying to boost their own product through the use of a saint. 00:33:37.611 --> 00:33:41.930 It is more recognizable than their own individual name. 00:33:42.849 --> 00:33:44.070 Thank you very much. 00:33:44.509 --> 00:33:47.870 I think that's all because we are out of time. 00:33:47.930 --> 00:33:49.130 I think we don't delay. 00:33:49.930 --> 00:33:52.450 So thank you very much, Virginia, for your presentation. 00:33:52.470 --> 00:33:53.830 Thank you very much for having me. 00:33:54.290 --> 00:33:55.290 Thank you. 00:33:57.810 --> 00:34:04.250 So Bea, you can instruct us how much time we still have for the coffee break. 00:34:04.910 --> 00:34:05.910 That's good. 00:34:06.469 --> 00:34:07.530 That's why I'm asking you. 00:34:08.830 --> 00:34:10.810 20 minutes of coffee break? 00:34:11.080 --> 00:34:12.160 20 minutes of coffee break? 00:34:12.310 --> 00:34:13.310 Okay.