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).
57. A global history of the Greeks, with Roderick Beaton
56. Cyril, Methodios, and the conversion of the Slavs, with Mirela Ivanova
55. If you could meet and interview one person from Byzantine history, who would it be and why? (Part II), with Paroma Chatterjee and Merle Eisenberg
54. The power and journeys of the True Cross and other holy relics, with Lynn Jones
53. What can we know about the life of the Prophet Muhammad?, with Sean Anthony
52. Crowd behavior in imperial Rome and Constantinople, with Daniëlle Slootjes
51. Byzantine poetry on its own terms, with Marc Lauxtermann
50. If you could meet and interview one person from Byzantine history, who would it be and why?, with Fotini Kondyli and Alexander Sarantis
49. Why is there an Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of Constantinople?, with Cecily Hilsdale
48. What did Byzantine music sound like? (The answer is more political than you’d expect), with Alexander Lingas
46. Raiders, marauders, ravagers, and pirates: their impact on Byzantine life, with Alexander Sarantis
45. Neoliberalism in academia and its impact on the humanities, with Tamar Hodos
44. How can historians use new media to disseminate ideas?, with Merle Eisenberg
43. Is it time to abandon the rubric “Byzantium”?, with Leonora Neville
42. Byzantium in video games, with Troy Goodfellow
41. Ravenna, capital of empire between east and west, with Judith Herrin
40. Byzantine tales of horror and the macabre
39. The monastic experience, with Alice-Mary Talbot
38. Manuscripts, databases, and the joys of Byzantine literature, with Dave Jenkins
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