Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(2):281-289 Zozan TARHAN DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-2-3  ABSTRACT The main element of the Assyrian culture that Urarṭu adopted was the Neo-Assyrian cuneiform writing system. Along with the writing system various aspects of Assyrian culture were taken over as well. The Urarṭian royal titulary and epithets, both of which were strongly connected to the royal ideology, were taken over from the Assyrians. Aside from them, other ideological motifs were borrowed as well. The present paper investigates the Assyrian patterns and ideological motifs, which were adopted and adapted in Urarṭian royal inscriptions. Additionally it discusses the toponyms Nai’ri, Urarṭu and Bia (the latter often referred to as Biainili in modern studies) in the Assyrian and Urarṭian sources, the relationship between these toponyms, and their development over time. REZUMAT Principalul element al culturii asiriene pe care Urarṭu l-a adoptat a fost sistemul de scriere cuneiform neoasirian. Împreună cu sistemul de scriere(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(2):243-279 Joanna TÖYRÄÄNVUORI DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-2-2  ABSTRACT The cuneiform alphabetic script from Ugarit was in use during the Late Bronze Age. The origins of the script remain shrouded in mystery but it is generally assumed that the script was an invention of local scribes, as the majority of text finds are from the kingdom. The cuneiform alphabetic texts found outside of the kingdom of Ugarit make up a small percentage of the overall text corpus. These finds, spanning the Eastern Mediterranean and consisting altogether of ten inscriptions on a variety of objects, may shed light on Ugarit’s role in the commercial network of the LBA in which the kingdom seems to have been an important node, especially in examining the overland trade connections from the maritime powerhouse that remain largely unexplored. The cuneiform alphabetic script, an artefact characterizing the entire Ugaritian culture in its unique combination of(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 85-115 Nuria Elisa MORÈRE MOLINERO, Helena DOMÍNGUEZ DEL TRIUNFO DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-5 ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to explore the historical development of a field of study that we can call “Salt in Antiquity.” Initially, studies on salt in antiquity relied on 19th-century historical thought, and later, on the contributions of medievalists and early archaeology in salt-producing regions. However, the study of salt and ancient history has now achieved full independence and distinctiveness as a specific field of study. This article traces the evolution of this field from its early, tentative beginnings to its present status within the discipline of Ancient History. As a result, the history of salt in antiquity has become a well-defined field, aligning with new trends in historical and archaeological research.  Written sources are being analysed from other perspectives, and collateral themes such as food, food preservation, technology and culture(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 117-138 Carlos ENRÍQUEZ DE SALAMANCA DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-6 ABSTRACT The debate around the replica model of Roman colonization has traditionally been focused on the early to mid-Republican colonial foundations in Italy. In this context, scholars have, in the last decades, rightly challenged the former orthodoxy to assert that these colonies were not, as was previously assumed, replicas of Rome. These same scholars, however, have often stated that these replicas were the result of later Republican and imperial colonial practices that emerged in this period. This paper puts this assumption of the ‘emergence of the replica model’ to the test to show that this is not the case. Through an examination of the elements of the replica model, as well as a series of three case-studies (Corinth, Urso, and Pompeii), the present work will show that there is no evidence to suggest a replica model in the(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 201-212 Lucian MUNTEANU, Rodica POPOVICI, Adelina PICIOR DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-10 ABSTRACT The collection of the Institute of Archaeology in Iasi holds a lot of Roman denarii, consisting of: 1 AR Q. Antonius Balbus (pierced and “repaired”), 1 AR L. Farsuleius Mensor, 1 AR Vitellius, 1 AR Hadrianus, 1 AR Antoninus Pius, 1 AR Antoninus Pius for Diva Faustina I, 1 AR Commodus, 1 AR Commodus for Crispina, and 1 AR Septimius Severus. These coins were handed out to the Institute by Mrs. Rodica Popovici, which she received from Professor Alexandru Dima, between 1960-1962. He would have acquired the denarii back in his hometown, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, during his childhood and student years. Throughout this paper, we have attempted to prove that these coins are unlikely to represent single finds from the Drobeta site. More likely, the issues were part of a hoard of Roman denarii, also containing(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 51-62 Tamás MAGDUS DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-3 ABSTRACT One of the most important rites of passage associated with the goddess Ceres was the opening of the mundus. The mundus was an object in Rome, the opening of which was a state ritual and held on special occasions. As long as the mundus was open, the spirits of the dead roamed the world, so any activity carried out at that time was threatened by bad omens. Much controversy surrounds the issue of the mundus, since we do not know the form of its appearance, its exact location and origin are also shrouded in darkness. In our study, we are looking for the answer to how Ceres, as an agricultural deity, was connected to the duality of life and death, why the mundus is connected to her figure, and how this appears in the works of Roman authors. We(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 213-228 Policarp HORTOLÀ DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-11 ABSTRACT This work offers insights into the intricate interplay between visual art and organic-residue microscopy within the realm of haemotaphonomy. Haemotaphonomy is a microscope-based science that deals with the study of the morphology of blood cells, particularly focusing on erythrocytes. Although recently confocal laser scanning microscopy has been revealed as a possible practical alternative to image bloodstain cells, their shape is better revealed when a bloodstain is examined under a scanning electron microscope. Due to the visual characteristics of its subjects of study and to its method of study, haemotaphonomy can be seen as a Churrigueresque and tenebristic science. Consequently, the scopic aesthetic background of haemotaphonomy converges into the Baroque cultural framework in the form of neobaroque taste. Contextualization of haemotaphonomy’s cultural framework helps to unravel whether or not organic-residue microscopy adheres to the current ‘postmodern’ cultural trends of other(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 63-83 Núria CASTELLANO, Bibiana AGUSTÍ, Adriana RECASENS, Irene RIUDAVETS DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-4 ABSTRACT The city of Oxyrhynchus, an important Greco-Roman metropolis, has been excavated since 1992 by the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission. Archaeological work is concentrated on the Upper Necropolis, which has been occupied for more than 1000 years, from the Saite period (650 BC) to the Arab conquest (AD 646). Most of the Roman tombs are concentrated in Sector 22, where Tomb 64 is highlighted as one of the mummies found in its excavation presents an unusual case of death during childbirth. The study of this funerary package will allow us to learn about Roman funerary practices and the physical and magical protection of the most vulnerable. REZUMAT Orașul Oxyrhynchus, o importantă metropolă greco-romană, a fost excavat începând din 1992 de către Misiunea Arheologică Oxyrhynchus. Lucrările arheologice sunt concentrate pe Necropola Superioară, care a fost ocupată(…)

Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 30(1): 37-49 Larisa PECHATNOVA DOI: 10.47743/saa-2024-30-1-2 ABSTRACT The article examines the Delphic prophecy, which, as ancient authors believed, concerned the Spartan king Leonidas and was associated with the events at Thermopylae in 480 BC. Herodotus quotes this oracle both in prose and in poetic retelling (VII. 220. 3–4). Researchers have considerable doubts about the authenticity of both versions. We sought to prove that the two versions of the prophecy arose at different times: one, prosaic, and most likely authentic, appeared before Thermopylae, and the second, fabricated in Delphi, probably by order of the royal family of the Agiads, appeared after Thermopylae. It is important to emphasize that the Delphic prophecy, in which the death of the king was declared a condition for the salvation of Sparta, became an integral part of the myth of Leonidas. With the help of this heroic myth, Sparta skillfully transformed the(…)