Corinthian Matters

Category: Late Antiquity

  • Corinth at the AIA / APA Meetings: January 5-8, 2012

    Tomorrow begin the annual meetings of the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association in Philadelphia.  I repost below info about Corinth papers.  If any one would like to contribute reviews of individual papers or sessions, let me know.  Friday Morning (Jan. 6) “The Archaic Temple at Isthmia Reconsidered” – Cornelis J. (Neil)…

  • “Straight from the Butcher’s Block” – A report on Corinth Excavations of 2011

    In the late spring and early summer, we reported on new excavations in Corinth in the area northwest of the theater.   The latest issue of Expedition from the Penn Museum includes a preliminary report by C.K. Williams II titled “From the Field—The Corinth Excavations of 2011.”  In the document (available here as a PDF), Mr.…

  • Barbarians at the Gate

    One reason I love Corinthian Matters is that David Pettegrew’s loyal bots constantly crawl the web looking for new academic articles on Corinth. As anyone who attempts to keep abreast of new scholarship on any topic knows, it is almost impossible to do so without some loyal human and software allies.Recently, he brought to my…

  • Hexamilion

    The trans-Isthmus “Hexamilion” wall, running 7 kilometers across the Isthmus of Corinth, constructed in the 5th century AD, with later episodic refurbishments.  In the day of its construction, it must have fundamentally altered the human landscape, the regional economy, and the local demands for labor.  Photos by D. Pettegrew 2005 and 2007.      …

  • Corinthian Scholarship (November)

    Hard to believe that December is already here – quite a lot of new scholarship delivered electronically in November.  Bronze Age Erika Weiberg, “The invisible dead : The case of the Argolid and Corinthia during the Early Bronze Age,” in Helen Cavanagh, William Cavanagh and James Roy (eds.), Honouring the Dead in the Peloponnese: Proceedings…

  • Reading Faith and Occupation in Late Antique Graffiti

    Last month, Bill Caraher posted a working draft of a paper on the Christian landscapes of the Corinthia  in which he discusses a variety of Christian graffiti–crosses,  fish, Chi-Rhos, and prayers inscribed in stone–scratched in mortar and stone on churches, baths, walls, and villas of the Late Antique Corinthia.  Bill argues that these symbols shed light on…

  • Some Perspective on American Excavations in Corinth: Byzantium and the Avant Garde

    I couldn’t make it last week to Grand Forks to hear Franklin & Marshall College professor Kostis Kourelis speak on the topic of Byzantium and the Avant Garde.  Thanks to Bill Caraher and the Center for Instructional and Learning Technologies at the University of North Dakota for streaming the lecture live.  The video, audio, and…

  • Did a tsunami destroy ancient Lechaion?

    In early July, Andreas Vött and his colleagues announced that sometime in the 6th century AD, a tsunami destroyed ancient Olympia, the famous site of pan-Hellenic athletic contests.   In considering recent scholarship on historical tsunamis in the Gulf of Corinth, I pondered here at Corinthianmatters whether there was any evidence for tsunamis in the Corinthia. …

  • Corinthiaka at the AIA / APA 2012

    The Archaeological Institute of America and the American Philological Association have posted preliminary programs for their annual meetings in Philadelphia, January 5-8, 2012.  As in last year’s program, Corinthiaka are covered through AIA / APA papers and posters.  The following list was generated from paper titles alone and will grow as the abstracts go live. …

  • Other Byzantine Bodies

    When most of us think of the Byzantine body today, we image the ethereal bodies that grace the walls of painted churches, the emaciated bodies of the Byzantine ascetic, or even the body of the emperor or bishop. At the same time, there has been valued work in the last few years focusing on the…