Conferenza
"Phrygia between the East and the West"
Pavia, Italy – April 7th-9th, 2022
The question of the definition of contrastive identities between the East and the West has always been central to understanding the Mediterranean, the European, and, today also, the Atlantic world. In the reassessment of the values and fundaments of a new, diverse, and inclusive society, the legacy of the Greco-Roman world on west-ern political identity as ‘the exemplum’ is under scrutiny. The discussion, often led by non-experts, however, in-volves a too simplistic understanding of the ancient Med-iterranean, in general, and of the Greco-Roman experi-ence, in particular. The challenge for ancient historians and archaeologists is to promote a vision of the ancient Mediterranean with all of its rich complexity and diversi-ty in the broader context of the ancient world. In order to make space for a different understanding of the ancient Mediterranean trajectory, this conference focuses on Phrygia, a region of northwestern, inner Anatolia, which represented a borderland between the East and the West for the entire 1st millennium BCE. The conference even aims to bring a conjecture to discussion: whether it was Phrygia, well before the expansion of the Achaemenid Empire towards the west, that promoted contrastive identities between the East and the West already during the 8th century BCE. The aim is also to investigate how the several elements of diversity characterizing this bor-derland were received and elaborated in contemporary and later societies of the Mediterranean and Near East-ern worlds.
New research and the new chronology of the Destruction Level at the Phrygian capital of Yass? Höyük-Gordion have resulted in a backdating of about 250 years for the formation of a Phrygian kingdom. This has considerable consequences in the historical, art his-torical, technological, and cultural spheres. The publica-tion of a profound revision of the archaeological datum of the capital of a kingdom – located between the Aegean and Mediterranean worlds on one side, and the Anatoli-an, Assyrian, and Levantine worlds on the other – has begun to receive attention in individual studies related to specific themes. However, a reflection on the archaic formation of this kingdom and the political and ethnic identities that defined it still require new investigations; equally, a study of the impact of this polity as a middle ground entity between two areas that were beginning a process of progressive definition of opposition needs new reflection. Reception and integration of the Phrygian legacy in the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman world is also considered a central part of the discussion of the Phryg-ian identity, both in its developments locally in the Ana-tolian Plateau, and elsewhere.
With this intent the Department of Humanities and the Graduate School in History of the University of Pavia in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World of New York University are organizing a conference in Pavia on April 7-9, 2022. This collabora-tive conference aims to bring together experts and young scholars to discuss the themes presented above which emerged from the homonymous joint UNIPV – ISAW graduate seminar of Spring 2021: "Phrygia be-tween the East and the West".
The conference will be divided into four sections. For each section, key speakers who have already agreed to present their papers are as follows:
1) Power and Identity Ch.B. Rose, U-Penn;
L. d'Alfonso, ISAW-NYU & UNIPV;
2) Technology, Trade, and Communication Routes M. Harari, UNIPV;
M. I??kl?, Atatürk University Erzurum; A. Kotsonas, ISAW-NYU
3) Writings and Literature in the Early 1st Millennium BCE P. Goedegebuure, Oriental Institute, Uni-Chicago;
N. Luraghi, Oxford University
4) Memory and Reception in Greco-Roman Times G. Semeraro, Uni-Salento;
S.Y. ?enyurt, Gazi University Ankara
The conference will be primarily in-person, but we intend to livestream the event through the Digital Hammurabi and Save Ancient Studies media platforms to allow for a larger online audience. The conference format remains subject to change based on local and inter-national COVID-19 restrictions. A confirmation, or any changes, will be disseminated in Jan-uary 2022. Inquiries may be directed to the co-organizers:
Annarita Bonfanti (annaritastefan.bonfanti01@universitadipavia.it)
Lorenzo d’Alfonso (lda5@nyu.edu) Nathan Lovejoy (ncl291@nyu.edu)
Alessio Mantovan (alessio.mantovan84@gmail.com)
Ryan Henry Schnell (rhs399@nyu.edu)