Work-It

This week, we are happy to welcome Professor Will Atkinson to a public lecture and workshop on Pierre Bourdieu and ancient history. Professor Atkinson is an expert on Bourdieu’s theories, so we look forward to enriching conversations about how to further implement Bourdieu’s field theory in our research. Alongside Prof. Atkinson, we are pleased to host Dr Caroline Wallis, who will present her upcoming book.

🤩After the workshop, we will write a longer post about the event, so keep your eyes peeled! European Research Council

The WORK-IT (University of Helsinki) and FARE (CNRS) projects held a collaborative workshop together in March 2026. Here are some of our thoughts on it:

The FARE-WORK workshop was a complete success! Scholars from Europe and the Americas came to Helsinki to discuss fiscality and labor in the Ancient Near East (ANE) during and after the Achaemenid Empire.
Different geographic areas, such as Egypt, Persia, the Levant, and Babylonia, have been treated closely, allowing the rare possibility to compare perspectives and break boundaries of the academic areas, reuniting the ANE not under an Empire but under the will to apply fitting theories that would improve its understanding.
Indeed, we had the great opportunity to have two economists among us, whose paper narrowed the distance between the modern and the ancient world, providing a reflection on household and work organization and a tentative economic theory for the ancient world. Micro- and macro-economics, New Institutional Economics, and other approaches have also driven the papers, and our project was delighted to see the theories of Bourdieu, our guiding light, being applied to the Babylonian archive of Bēl-rēmanni!
Finally, the workshop awarded us with the long discussions organized at the end of every session. There all the speakers and the guests dealt with topics such as household, land tenure, the concept of value, approaches to theory and methodology, the role of temples as economic centers, trust and societal cohesion, and the difference between salary and rations in the Ancient Near East.
The discussions have been transcribed and will be edited and published along with the other papers in a forthcoming volume.
So, once again, thank you to the organizers, WORK-IT project of the University of Helsinki and FARE project of CNRS, and the speakers for having realized an amazing opportunity to share knowledge and perspectives, reassessing the way we see the ancient past!

@‌EuropeanResearchCouncil

What does anthropology with historians mean?

🧐In the second part of our interview, Anwar explores how moral economy connects questions of care, truth, and representation from healthcare systems in Indonesia to the study of the Ancient Near East. He reflects on reflexivity, the colonial roots of scholarship and how doing anthropology with others changes the way we understand research itself.

🤩Read all about it on our blog!
➡https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/work-without-end-informal-taxation-and-forced-labor-within-persian-southern-levantine-temple-economy-and-society/news/anthropology-with-historians-ethnography-ethics-and-reflexivity

European Research Council

Anthropology with Historians: Ethnography, Ethics And Reflexivity | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki In his research for the WORK-IT project, Anwar Arifin examines how scholars of the Ancient Near East construct the past. In this post, he explores the ethics, moral dimensions and reflexivity of doing anthropology with colleagues.

Meet Anwar Arifin, a doctoral reseacher who joined our team at WORK-IT this autumn!

💭 In his WORK-ING Thoughts interview, Anwar reflects on his journey in anthropology, historiography, and questions of political economy as well as dives into his fascination with the anthropology of history, and what it means to study the makers of history themselves.

🔗 Read the first part of the interview on our blog!
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/work-without-end-informal-taxation-and-forced-labor-within-persian-southern-levantine-temple-economy-and-society/news/anthropology-meets-antiquity-how-we-write-the-ancient-world


European Research Council

Anthropology meets Antiquity: How We Write the Ancient World | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki Anwar Arifin shares how his interest in political and economic anthropology led him to Finland and the WORK-IT project.

What does reflexivity mean in researching the
Ancient Near East?

🪞We asked our researchers questions about
reflexivity in the study of antiquity, and about how our
own categories, assumptions, and positions shape the
ways we think about the Ancient Near East.

What do we think?

➡Read on our blog!


@‌erc_research

Let The Evidence Speak: On Reflexivity and The Study of The Ancient Near East | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki We asked our researchers questions about reflexivity in the study of antiquity and about how our own categories, assumptions, and positions shape the ways we think about the Ancient Near East. This blog post is based on their answers.

🌍 One summer, three cities!

This summer took the team from Uppsala to Berlin and Turku, presenting research and building connections across disciplines. It’s been a summer of panels, questions and plenty of inspiration.

For the highlights of a bright summer of scholarship, visit our blog ☀️
🔗https://tinyurl.com/yfncwrej

European Research Council

Our WORK-ING Summer: Thoughts From Conferences and Meetings of Summer 2025 | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki The summer of 2025 turned out to be an active and productive season for our research group. Members of the team participated in several conferences and meetings across Europe, presenting our project, refining methodologies, and strengthening connections within the wider scholarly community.

☀️Read, Research & Reflect: Summer thoughts from the Work-It blog

Last spring, the WORK-ING Thoughts –blog posts dived into how ancient sites, words, and numbers reveal unexpected insights – not just into the past but also into how we think today.

In our blog posts, our team explored how research isn’t just about facts and findings, but also about embracing complexity, sitting with uncertainty, and even questioning the categories we often take for granted.

🔍 From cultic sites to symbolic numbers, the past doesn’t offer simple answers, rather it invites us into its layered, lived realities. A single word might mean pain or judge. A number might be symbolic, not literal. Sacred places show us how people truly lived their beliefs.

Research isn’t just about the past. It helps us reshape how we understand the present.

🌾As a new academic year approaches, let’s bring this mindset with us. Curiosity over certainty, openness over assumptions. And if you haven’t yet, take a moment to revisit our previous blog posts and reflect on the patterns that connect them.

Visit our blog to learn more!

➡️ https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/work-without-end-informal-taxation-and-forced-labor-within-persian-southern-levantine-temple-economy-and-society/blog-work-ing-thoughts

Our research group had the pleasure of attending the Annual European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS) Conference at Uppsala University in June.

We presented our research project, sharing the aims and ideas behind our research with colleagues from across Europe. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussion, gain valuable feedback, and connect with fellow scholars in the field of research.

The WORK-IT -team thanks the organizers and everyone who contributed to a stimulating and inspiring conference!

In our final blog post before the summer break, Daniele Soares unpacks how temple labour in the Bible was shaped by social pressure, imperial systems, and economic obligation, exploring the complex social hierarchies, informal taxation, and blurred boundaries between voluntary service and imperial demands in these biblical texts.

📖 Read the full piece on our blog 👇
https://tinyurl.com/bde22kn2

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Ezra–Nehemiah and the Blurred Lines Between Worship and Work | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki Temple work in Ezra-Nehemiah goes beyond faith: it’s tied to social pressures, informal taxes, and forced labour under imperial rule. In our final blog post before the summer break, Daniele Soares opens the door to how these biblical texts and ancient practices reveal the complex realities behind ...

How do you read the ancient world with modern tools? In this week’s post, doctoral researcher Daniele Soares shares her journey from economics in Brazil to biblical studies in Jerusalem and Helsinki. She reflects on theory, theology, and why ancient texts like Ezra and Nehemiah still matter for understanding power, labour, and community today.

📖 Read the full piece on our blog 👇
https://tinyurl.com/3vyt76mn

💬 Stay tuned for more of her research next week!

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Between Text and Theory: Daniele Soares on Reading the Ancient World | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki In this WORK-ing thoughts post, doctoral researcher Daniele Soares shares her journey from economics in Brazil to theology and biblical studies across continents. She explores how ancient texts like Ezra and Nehemiah reveal the social and economic dynamics of labour, power, and community.

How do we build a system out of fragments? We continue our conversation with Dr. Mitchka Shahriyari by diving into the economic structures behind the Idumean ostraca. Explore how ancient fiscal systems reveal the complex relationship between agriculture, taxation, and imperial administration in the Persian Empire.

📜 Read the second half of the conversation now on our blog! 👇
https://tinyurl.com/5x6jehav

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Fragments into Frameworks: Building Meaning from the Idumean Corpus | Work without End: Informal Taxation and Forced Labor within Persian Southern Levantine Temple Economy and Society | University of Helsinki How do we build a system out of fragments? Dr. Shahryari continues our conversation by exploring the economic structures of the Persian Empire.