Speakers & Abstracts

• Bilal Annan

  Shine on You Celestial Diamond: Funerary Iconography with Astral Connotations in Petra and Palmyra

  The multifaceted funerary ideology that permeated the societies of the Graeco-Roman Near East has so far, both in shape and substance, stubbornly and to a great extent evaded the modern observer. Yet, in a context where relevant textual sources from the region under study are singularly lacking, one may still hope to approach this ideology, if not delineate it, through a close examination of its visual translations. The identification of pervasive iconographic themes across the funerary landscapes of the Nabataean and Roman Near East may in this respect shed light on a seemingly overlooked aspect of this ideology, namely the overlapping of the funerary and religious spheres in the form of a (perhaps allegorical) celestial ascent of the deceased’s “soul” (in itself an elusive notion in the religious constellations of the Graeco-Roman Near East), a journey materialized by the inclusion in the tomb’s decoration of mythological figures or celestial creatures such as eagles.

  This paper proposes to study the iconographic choices made by royal or wealthy patrons in their respective tombs in Petra and Palmyra, alluding to such an ascent. In Petra, the façades of royal tombs such as the “Khazneh”, the so-called “Tomb of the Roman Soldier” and the “Silk Tomb” display representations of the twin gods Arṣu and ‘Azizu, which were visually equated with the Dioscuri and symbolized, in the Nabataean cosmographic discourse, the morning and evening stars. These same gods are perhaps hinted at in at least two painted tombs in Palmyra, that of the “Three Brothers” and that of “Hairan”, both of which feature ornamented vaulted ceilings evoking nocturnal skies. In this paper, I will reflect on the celestial aspects of these gods and their relevance in the context of the deceased’s potential post mortem apotheosis.

  From Bilal on Dioscuri/morning and evening star: “The main evidence for this identification is literary (Greek sources), but some Nabataean sanctuaries were decorated with zodiacal symbols and representations of these twin gods, so there is some evidence supporting this aspect of their competences. I will be happy to present these documents in my paper.”

• Alisher Begmantov

  Nana, a Mesopotamian Goddess in the Funerary Tradition of Central Asia

  Increasing pictorial materials from Central Asia, including the Kafir-kala wooden panels reaffirm the significance of the goddess Nana, especially in the pantheon of the Sogdians, cosmopolitan merchants along the Silk Roads. In particular, the Sogdian funerary "Miho coach" from China and the ossuary from Khirmantepa in Kashkadarya, Uzbekistan, both of which depict four armed Nana seated on a lion throne, as well as presence of this deity in the Panjikent "Hell—Heaven" and lamentations scenes, indicate that the goddess Nana was involved in the Sogdian burial traditions. This paper will chiefly focus on the goddess Nana and her role in the afterlife. It will also briefly present artifacts recently discovered in Central Asia that are related to funerary art.

• Rana Brentjes

  Astral Imagery in Tombs and on Funerary Objects from C. 1 Millenium BCE to 1400 CE from the VoH Database

  I will present examples from the VoH Database of astral tombs and funeral objects across Eurasia from ca. the late 1st mill. BCE to the 14th century. I will show their geographical localizations and distribution over time and ask questions about the meaning of the two sets of data. I will attempt to relate the materiality and iconography of some of the objects to their temporal and spatial presence. Moreover, I hope to include possible aspects of collection history. My main question is which objects from tombs/graves with astral imagery are uniquely defined by their specific funerary context and which types of materiality and/or iconography is shared with objects from other contexts.

• Massimiliano David

  Main Topics for Funerary Archaeology Applied to Late Late Antiquity

  The great transformations of late antique society are accompanied by the elaboration of new forms of organization regarding death. In particular, we can verify the progressive transition from incineration to inhumation declined in multiple forms. Burials undergo significant transformations due to the change in rituals influenced by the numerous cultural identities present in the Mediterranean world and in surrounding areas. The process of Christianization is responsible for the progressive atrophy of the practice of accompanying the dead with representative objects. New forms of collective organization of burials (sub divo and underground like catacombs) are developed. Even with regard to funerary buildings we are witnessing the experimentation of new architectural types. Furthermore, funerary inscriptions play a decisive role in recognizing the dead. Christianity shows deceased persons alive in Heaven represented as a lush flower garden or a splendid palace. Finally, starting from the 5th century, the progressive detachment of cemeteries from the suburban spaces in which they had been confined for centuries should be noted with extreme attention.

• Eurydice Georganteli

  In Paradise: The Materiality of the Heavens in Late Antique Funerary Art

  When thinking of the visualization of the heavens in Roman and late antique funerary art and architecture, one cannot fail to observe that the heavens had always been part of Roman beliefs, as the sublime cosmos where heroes and virtuous statesmen who had served their fatherland nobly came from, and where they ultimately returned upon their passing. And thus, the vast and mysterious expanse of outer space, known in Cicero's Dream of Scipio as a shining circle whose brightness was matched by the luminous divinized ancestors who inhabited it, became an essential aspect of Roman funerary architecture, art, and coinage. Funerary cosmology included gods Caelus, Aion, and Helios/Sol, arcs with zodiac signs, representations of winds, and the apotheosis of emperors carried by griffins and eagles onto the heavens. In Rome's Pantheon, the interior organization of space and the massive hemispherical dome with its large central oculus open to the sun served as cosmological signposts for the imperial cult and provided sacred associations with the mausoleum of Augustus and the Campus Martius, the locus of Romulus's apotheosis.

  With Christianity upstaging paganism in the second half of the 4th century, ancient iconographical motifs and architectural forms were often tweaked, reused, and interpreted in a new Christian light. In Ravenna’s mausoleum of Galla Placidia, solar imagery appears in the company of brilliant stars, night skies, and shimmering crosses as an apt visualization of Christian heaven. Yet, unlike the distant outer space the Romans called the heavens, paradise in early Christian theology and art becomes inseparable from the world of the mortals. Pastoral landscapes in which Christ presides as the Good Shepherd, scenes of wine making, fruits and flowers, heavenly Jerusalem as a Roman cityscape, and Christ in mandorla as a representation of His divine light articulate the connection between the earthly and the metaphysical realm, death and resurrection, and the promise of salvation.

• Jinsong Guo

  Looking Up or Looking Down at the Heavens: Two Types of Cosmic Representations in Chinese Tombs and Their Meanings, 5th c. BCE – 12th c. CE

  This paper presents a new typology and geneaology of depictions of the heavens in early and medieval Chinese tombs. The focus is on the two different points of view as determined by the position of the supposed observer as relative to the heavens: whether the images represent celestial patterns as observed upward from the earth, or as imaginatively seen downwards from beyond the stars. The paper asks and analyzes how these two perspectives of visualizing the heavens were utilized in mortuary contexts and what meanings they were intended to convey. Artifacts that will be examined include star maps on tomb ceilings, divinatory devices known as “cosmic boards” and resembling burial objects, and stone covers with celestial images on them for inscribed epitaphs. The paper will also discuss the adaptation of Western zodiacs in Chinese tomb images.

• Jeffrey Kotyk

  Lunar Stations and Zodiac Signs in East Asia: Maṇḍalas and Tombs

  Some extant tombs in East Asia include murals of asterisms on the ceilings. The twenty-eight indigenous Chinese lunar stations (not to be confused with the Indian nakṣatras) are attested earlier, but later we have at least one example of the twelve zodiac signs in a Liao-era tomb. The zodiac signs were earlier visually represented on Buddhist maṇḍalas, which generally were preserved as copies in Japan. Moreover, the lunar stations as illustrated asterisms also exist in various forms. This paper is a preliminary attempt at comparing and discussing these asterisms. We will also discuss the semantic significance of displaying them in tombs.

• Chuanyi Lyu

  Inheritance and Integration: A Different Interpretation of the Picture of Lunar Mansions and Dragon-Tiger from the Tomb of Zen Marquis Yi

  The astronomical map on the lacquer box excavated from the Tomb of Zen Marquis Yi is one of the most famous early objects in the history of astronomy and the picture of the Dragon-Tiger figure accompanying the lunar mansions has always been the focus of academic discussion. Previous studies show that they are highly related to the construction of the system of Four-image and Twenty-eight-constellation, and whether they can be compared in this way is a question worth discussing. To analyze the pattern details in the map, it can be confirmed that there is no clear correspondence between the dragon-tiger figure and the 28 constellations. According to the origin, it may be concluded that the Dragon-Tiger figure is inherited from the ancient astronomical tradition of the Central Plains by the Chu Culture, while the 28 stars come from the astronomical tradition of the non-Chu culture. It should be the main reason for the lack of a clear corresponding relationship with each other that two kinds of information from different traditions are drawn into the same picture, but they have not yet been integrated. The way that they are drawn in one map reflects the convergence and integration between Zen-Sui culture and Chu culture in the early Warring States.

• Consuelo Manetta

  Subterranean Stars. Astral Imagery and Eschatology in Ancient Thrace’ Funerary Art.

  My article focuses on some intriguing decorations from Hellenistic and Roman Thrace, which demonstrate that astral/cosmic images found a place in elite funerary art. They include the crescent moon and star carved on the wall of the burial chamber tomb at Dolno Lukovo, the head of Helios painted on the marble door of the tomb beneath the Goljama Kosmatka Tumulus, and the starry sky on the vault of the tomb in Tumulus A at Vize, Kiklareli. As I have argued recently, an astral/cosmic programme was featured in the coffered ceiling of the tomb in the Ostrusha Tumulus, where the personification of the Pleiades may have peopled a symbolic sky together with Nereids, Sirens and characters from Greek myth. On the strength of this evidence, it seems that bringing the celestial into the underworld—and projecting the underworld into the celestial realm in turn–appealed to the warlike Thracian aristocracy, as it did to Eastern, Greek, and Roman civilisations. Several factors enhance these Thracian examples’ importance for understanding Thracian religion, art, and culture, the knowledge of which is still partial and controversial. One question we may ask, for example, is whether they offer evidence of a local tradition of astral eschatology. More generally, the topic offers a special opportunity to explore cultural interactions in funerary astral art and the reception of Greek and/or Eastern art, culture, and values in a non-Greek environment.

• Stamatina Mastorakou

  The Antigonid Tomb at Pella and His Mural

  In my paper, I explore a Macedonian tomb excavated in Pella in 2001, which dates back to the Hellenistic era. Situated on a hill above the Antigonid palace, one of the four Hellenistic kingdoms established after the passing of Alexander the Great, this cist-grave possesses significant historical significance. Despite the unfortunate pilfering of its treasures, the mural decoration found within remains remarkably unique. I will primarily focus on the painting, particularly on one of the five male figures depicted on the western wall. This central figure, for whom the tomb was specifically constructed, is depicted pointing towards a celestial globe, indicating his association with astral knowledge. Through my analysis, I aim to present a new interpretation of the tomb and its mural within their historical and cultural context.

• Nikolaos Pappas

  Astral Symbols on Monumental Tombs of the Macedonian Kingdom

  The article, on one hand, will present depictions which are connected to astral symbols and constellations, coming from monumental tombs (wall paintings or offerings) of the Macedonian kingdom, aging from its peak, during the reign of Philip II and his successors (second half of the 4th century BC), until its conquest by the Romans (168 BC). On the other hand, an attempt will be made to interpret why the specific depictions/symbols appear in the related tombs and how they are connected to the royal family and its supporters or the enlightened leadership in general. Philip II's initiation into the Pythagorean doctrines and his connection to the Platonic Ideas was highly catalytic in this regard.

• Fabio Spadini

  Per Aspera ad Astra. Naming the Seven Stars on Roman Children's Funerary Reliefs 

  A Roman funerary relief kept in Copenhagen shows the bust of a boy on the left, and the one of a girl on the right. The little girl is depicted above a moon crescent open to the top, surrounded by seven eight-pointed stars. Our analysis will first try to understand to which astral body these stars refer. Is it the Seven Planets or the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major)? The latter very often linked to the soul’s resting place in Greco-Roman sources. This funerary relief is a visualization of the astral journey of the soul that follows a “stellar model”. We will then try to establish a link between this funerary relief and other funerary monuments that seem to convey a similar message, i.e., the depiction of the journey of the soul of the deceased to the sky, following what I call the “zodiacal model” (Brindisi disk, Igel zodiac, etc.). The main interest will be in understanding which are the main sources that were behind these two types of models.

• Sarah L. Symons

  Spatial Arrangement of Star Maps, Tables, and Clocks in Ancient Egyptian Tombs

  The ceilings of temples and tombs, and the underside of coffin and sarcophagus lids, in ancient Egypt represented the sky and were often decorated with sky motifs. Occasionally, instead of using repeating solar or stellar motifs, sky diagrams, tables, or texts were used. Here, we look at the use of such astral content in royal and non-royal tombs and associated structures from around 2000 BCE to as late as 125 CE, examining the locales and orientations used for this material and considering changing tastes in content, arrangement, and location. We will use occurrences of diagonal star tables, astronomical diagrams, Ramesside star clocks, and some celestial Books (Nut, Day, and Night). This gives a data set of about 80 entries, which can be cross-referenced against four distinct “locales” (burial chamber ceilings, tomb corridor ceilings, coffin or sarcophagus lid undersides, and mortuary temple ceilings). From this data, the evolution of astral depictions in Egyptian funerary contexts can be traced. This course of development can also add to our understanding of the role of time, as demonstrated by the motion of the heavens, in ancient Egyptian tomb decoration.

• Andreas Winkler

  Bowl, Board, and Burial

  The most famous Egyptian zodiac depictions are found in temples from the late Ptolemaic and the Roman periods. However, such motifs can also appear from time to time in a funerary context. Here the zodiac could, for instance, represent the ideal new year in which the deceased was to return to life, or be configured in such a manner that it represented the date of birth of the interred person. This paper will examine these zodiacs from a comparative point of view, relating the depictions to other applications of such imagery from Graeco-Roman Egypt, such as astrologers’ boards and bowls or dishes, which have been interpreted as astrologer’s tools or ritual vessels. The aim is to track the associations of the zodiac depictions with other types of image and to characterize the artistic choices made in different spheres of representing the heavens.