Images in Transition. The Southern Levant and Its Imagery between Near Eastern and Greek Traditions

The iconographic repertoire of the Southern Levant between the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 3rd century BCE is characterized by changing pictoral traditions resulting from the adoption and adaptation of Persian and Greek cultural traits. These processes of influence and interference (we may call them Persianization or Hellenization) as well as the expressions of the own cultural identity are in the focus of the conference. Case studies concerning available "media" – such as figurines, seals, coins, painted ceramics etc. – and typical motifs will offer an overview of the pictorial repertoire and the specific interactions between Eastern and Western symbol systems in the Southern Levant in the period under consideration. This will help understanding how and to which extent the perception of the world of the ancients changed during these turbulent times.

FECHA/ DATE/DATA: 23-24-25/11/2017

LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: University of Bern Main Building (Bern, Switzerland)

ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Dr. Patrick Wyssmann

INFO: web - patrick.wyssmann@theol.unibe.ch

INSCRIPCIÓN/REGISTRATION/REGISTRAZIONE:

PROGRAMA/PROGRAM/PROGRAMMA:

Thursday, 23 November (Main Building, 3rd floor, room 304) Session 1 — Historiographical Perspectives 08:30 - Registration 09:00 - Andreas Wagner (Dean of the Faculty of Theology), Welcome Address 09:15 - Silvia Schroer & Patrick Wyssmann (Bern), Introductional Remarks 09:30 - E. Axel Knauf (Bern), The Begin of the „Persian“ and „Hellenistic“ Periods, and Long or Short Centuries 10:30 - Haim Gitler (Jerusalem), Iconographic Fusion in the Late Persian and Early Hellenistic Periods in Palestine – Some Chronological Aspects 11:15 - Hans-Peter Mathys (Basel), Die Marseach-Inschrift von Bostan esh-Sheikh Session 2 — Iconographic Themes 14:00 - Silvia Schroer (Bern), Göttin und Löwe – eine dauerhafte Liaison 14:45 - Patrick Wyssmann (Bern), „Heracles“ in the Southern Levant during the Persian Period – Continuity and Change 15:45 - Thomas Staubli (Fribourg), Gott als Kind. Konstanten, Variationen und Akzentuierungen eines Bildthemas der ägypto-levantinischen Koine in hellenistischer und römischer Zeit 16:30 - Ulrich Hofeditz (Mainz), Bes Vases in Southern Levant during the Persian Period – Trade, Charm, or Cult?

Friday, 24 November (Main Building, 3rd floor, room 304) Session 3 — Media 09:00 - Florian Lippke (Fribourg), „The Last of Their Kind?“ Iconographic, Stylistic and Cultural Dynamics Attested on Cylinder Seals from the Biblical Word (6th-3rd Cent. BCE) 09:45 - Philipp Frei (Bern/Basel), Gods in a Foreign Country. Thoughts on Greek Motifs in the Repertoire of Images of the Ancient Near East 10:45 - Adi Erlich (Haifa), The Transition between the Persian and Hellenistic Periods in Idumea and Phoenicia in Light of the Terracotta Figurines 11:30 - Christian Frevel (Bochum) & Katharina Pyschny (Lausanne), On Hats, Beards and Clothes... – Reevaluating Typological Indicators in the Case of Southern Levantine Figurines from Persian and Early Hellenistic Times Session 4 — Archaeological Perspectives 14:15 - Winfried Held & Julia Hertzer (Marburg), Achaemenid Court Art in the Hellenistic Levant: Marisa and Jericho 15:00 - Dalit Regev (Jerusalem), Sidonians at Marisa 16:00 - Katarzyna Langenegger (Basel/Hamburg), Burial Rites in Transition 16:45 - Rebecca Martin (Boston), The Late Persian-Early Hellenistic Horizon in Southern Phoenicia: The View from Tel Dor

Saturday, 25 November (UniS, room A022) SGOA Meeting — Early Hellenization in the Southern Levant 09:00 - Arrival: Coffee & Tea 09:30 - Mirko Novák (President of SGOA), Welcome Address 09:45 - Silvia Schroer & Patrick Wyssmann (Bern), Introductional Remarks 10:00 - Oren Tal (Tel Aviv), Achaemenid to Greek Rule Transition in Palestine: Between Old and New 11:15 - Rolf Stucky (Basel), Aufstieg und Niedergang der Stadt Sidon 14:15 - Andrea Berlin (Boston), Identity Writ Small: Seal Imagery in Seleucid Palestine 15:30 - Stephan Schmid (Berlin), Die figürliche Darstellung bei den Nabatäern. Auf der Suche nach einem Erklärungsmodell 17:00 - End of Conference