Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

It's ! This sales document, written in cuneiform, dates to the Seleucid period and comes from the site of Uruk. In it, a woman sells her son an empty plot of land. The question is what is actually happening here. That is, does the son actually buy the plot of land from his mother or not? Or is this, as seems more likely, a legal fiction whereby through the sales document, the mother is able to guarantee that her son will inherit the plot of land by him "buying" it from her. There are other documents in the Hellenistic period were a man gives land to his wife with the stipulation that after her death, it will go to their sons, for example. Therefore this text seems to be a way to get around any possible issues with inheritance by turning it into a "sale."

A3671, baked clay, Iraq, Seleucid period (312 BCE–141 BCE)

Now available on the ISAC YouTube page! The ISAC Visiting Scholar lecture, "A Treasure Box Buried in Sand. Africana Byzantina from Nubia." This lecture, by Artur Obłuski, director of the Poilish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, focused on landmark discoveries that have transformed our understanding of Nubian societies between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on two historic capitals: Faras and Old Dongola. Drawing on key excavations and recent interdisciplinary research, it highlights spectacular finds—from monumental architecture and urban landscapes to funerary evidence, inscriptions, and painted decoration—that illuminate religious change, political authority, and everyday life along the Middle Nile.
Watch It here: https://bit.ly/ISACObluskiYouTube

This week we're looking at evidence for families in the ancient world. Inscriptions frequently mention various individuals, their spouses, parents, and children, sometimes in great detail. And sometimes families could be quite large, such as this statue base of Djedhor son of Djedhor and Tasheritentaihet. In addition to mentioning Djedhor, his wife Tayhesi, they are also depicted on the statue base in addition to their children and Djedhor's daughter with his other wife, Tayhor. On one side of the statue base Djedhor, followed by his wife Tayhesi are depicted. They are followed by three daughters are listed as Khut, Tasheritentayisw, Tayhesi, all the daughters of Tayhesi. The fourth daughter, Bastetiyw is said to be the daughter of Tayhor. Behind the fourth daughter is the wife Tayhor. On the other side of the statue base is Djedhor, followed by his sons: Hori, Horpabik, Djedhorpaisw, Irtyhorraw, Djedhorpabik, Djedhorpanebkahet, and Djedhorpaisjerw all sons of Tayhesi. The status of Tayhor remains unclear, but it seems likely she passed away.

E10589, basalt and plaster, Egypt, Macedonian period (315 BCE)

In case you missed it, the ISAC Visiting Scholar lecture by Vincent Francigny, CNRS, is now available on YouTube! His lecture, "Sudan: a Cultural Heritage at Risk" focused on cultural heritage in the Sudan. Caught in a war that has ravaged its land, killed and displaced its population, Sudan has for several years been experiencing a crisis of unprecedented scale. Endowed with a rich heritage that has been the focus of extensive international cooperation, the country faces numerous challenges in preserving the remains of its ancient past, safeguarding its collections and restoring an academic network that has been profoundly shaken. This presentation will revisit the origins of the conflict and assess its impact on the country’s archaeological heritage, before providing an overview of the current situation and of some initiatives undertaken in the field. Watch here: https://bit.ly/ISACFrancignyLectureYouTube

Joint ARCE-ISAC lecture this Saturday, June 13, 5–6pm Central Time (live in Breasted Hall and available to stream over Zoom, but not recorded). Dr. Brian Muhs, Associate Professor of Egyptology at ISAC will give the lecture:
"Individuals, Households, Families, and the Law in Ancient Egypt." Most individuals in ancient Egypt lived as members of corporate households, though they might move from their birth household to another through marriage, adoption, or by founding a new household of their own. Each household was governed by a household head, whose authority was sanctioned by law and custom. Household heads controlled household revenues and allocated resources among household members, and could even arrange for succession to their headship and the distribution of their property after their own deaths. However, household heads could also be constrained by the expectations of and obligations to other household members and society, and by legal agreements with household members and outsiders. At the same time, individuals also belonged to families and kinship groups, by birth, marriage or adoption, which extended beyond their households, and which also played an important role in inheritance. This paper will explore how individuals, households, and families interacted with each other and with the law, especially in the New Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Periods.
Register here for Zoom attendance: https://bit.ly/ARCEISACMuhsZoom

In 2018, Stephen Batiuk of the University of Toronto presented a lecture at ISAC: "Exploring the Roots of the Vine." The lecture focused on Batuk's archaeological work in Georgia, the Gadachrili Gora Regional Archaeology Project Expedition (GRAPE). Beginning in 2016, GRAPE is a Georgian-Canadian project which focuses on the prehistory of the Caucasus Region in Georgia. As part of this work, the earliest known wine in the world, dating to 6000 – 5800 BCE, was discovered. Watch more here: https://bit.ly/ISACBatiukLecture

The ISAC Museum will be closed tomorrow, Saturday, June 6 for events related to University of Chicago convocation! We'll re-open again on Sunday, June 7th!

The Research Archives of the ISAC is well known for its collection of volumes on West Asia and North Africa, but fewer people may realize that this also includes an important collection of books on the South Caucasus. These books were donated in 2007 by Gregory E. Areshian (1949 - 2020), who was the inaugural Director of the UCLA Research Program in Armenian Archaeology and Ethnography and Assistant Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. The Gregory Areshian Collection of the Research Archives comprises around 1500 books (mostly in Russian or Armenian) related to the archaeology, history and languages of the South Caucasus. The generosity of Professor Areshian has meant that these books are now available to students and scholars at the University of Chicago for use in their research on the South Caucasus.

The Achaemenid empire governed a vast region and this included the Armenian highlands in the South Caucasus. The Satrapy of Armenia was part f the northern boundary of the Achaemenid Empire and is known to have revolted against Achaemenid authority on a number of occasions. Here in the Persepolis reliefs, we can see the Armenians bringing a horse, as well as a large vessel, presumably made of metal demonstrating that in such depictions, the Armenians were seen as people who would bring valuable commodities such as horses and precious metals.

This week we're looking at different materials related to the South Caucasus at the ISAC! Winner of The 2025 Mediterranean Seminar Prize for the Best Source Edition and Translation and the 2025 Dr. Sona Aronian Book Prize for Excellence in Armenian Studies, "An Armenian Futūh Narrative: Łewond’s Eighth-Century History of the Caliphate," was written by Sergio La Porta and Alison M. V***a and published by ISAC in 2024. The text is an important source for the history of early Islamic rule and the only contemporary chronicle of second/eighth-century caliphal rule in Armenia, describing the events that took place during the century and a half following the Prophet Muḥammad’s death in AH 11/632 CE. You can download the book for free here: https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/lamine/lamine4