A conversation with Elizabeth Dospěl Williams (Dumbarton Oaks, Museum Department) on how people in Byzantium experienced the materiality of the objects they used, especially jewelry and textiles. We look at some of those objects together, discuss their qualities, and situate our engagement with material culture in broader discussions of historical theory. You can see the objects that we discuss for yourself, including this earring and ring pair; a St. Demetrios reliquary; a child's tunic; and a garment with a clavus. The conversation is based partly on Betsy's study 'Appealing to the Senses: Experiencing Adornment in the Early Medieval Eastern Mediterranean,' in the volume Sensory Reflections: Traces of Experience in Medieval Artifacts (Berlin 2019) 77-96; and the textile exhibition Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt (The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 2019).
77. How did most people in the Roman empire get by? with Kim Bowes
76. Exploring the monuments of Byzantine Constantinople, with Sergey Ivanov
75. The politics of archaeological heritage and reclamation, with Jonathan Hall
74. Laments for the Fall: Constantinople and Tenochtitlan in counterpoint, with Eleni Kefala
73. When did women “bind up” their hair, and why?, with Gabriel Radle
72. What do we mean by “Byzantine literature”?, with Stratis Papaioannou
71. Manuel II Palaiologos (1350-1425) had a lot to say, with Siren Çelik
70. Trees have histories too, with Alexander Olson
69. The experiences of Byzantine children, with Oana-Maria Cojocaru
68. Classical scholarship and philology in Byzantium, with Filippomaria Pontani
67. Wherein Tina and I take bad scholarly habits to task, with Tina Sessa
66. The perils of childbirth, with Christian Laes
65. Who was Hypatia of Alexandria and what does she stand for? with Silvia Ronchey
64. How did emperors make decisions?, with Michael Grünbart
63. The religion of simple believers, with Jack Tannous
62. Byzantine dress and fashion, with Jennifer Ball and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
61. Being Roman in Syriac, with Hartmut Leppin
60. Representing the trauma of captivity, enslavement, and degradation, with Adam Goldwyn
59. What exactly ended in Late Antiquity?, with Polymnia Athanassiadi
58. The column and equestrian statue of Justinian, a landmark monument of Constantinople, with Elena Boeck
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore