AMME Program: Fall 2025

We are pleased to announce the exciting fall program of the Ancient and Medieval Middle East (AMME) seminars series.

The four seminars will be organized as hybrid events at the University of Helsinki and on Zoom (details below).

Each themed session will consist of two talks followed by a shared discussion, and everyone is most welcome to participate!

 

Thursday 25.09.2025 (16:15-18:00 EEST): Science and the Social Lives of Ancient Materials

  • Assoc. Prof. Takehiro Miki (Keio University): Pottery and Mobility: Scientific Insights from Mugharat al-Kahf Cave, Oman –online

     

  • Dr. doc. Marta Lorenzon (Helsinki University): Bricks, Climate, and Empire: Assur at the Core of Neo-Assyrian Power –in person

     

Thursday 23.10.2025 (16:15-18:00 EEST): Writing History in the Ancient World

  • Dr. Johannes Bach (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg): The Stele of Dadusha and Historical Narrating at Old Babylonian Eshnunna –in person

     

  • Dr. Jasmin Lukkari (University of Milan): Seleukid king Antiochus IV and Rome in historical narratives –in person

     

Thursday 13.11.2025 (16:15-18:00 EET): Social Dependency Systems

For November, AMME will follow a slightly different format, in which we begin with a theoretical overview of the theme of social dependency and follow with case studies of examples from the ancient and medieval Middle East. Discussion will follow the three presentations, as we discuss the ways in which social dependency systems go beyond traditionally understood "slavery" and how dichotomies of independence and dependence may actually cause more problems than they solve.

 

  • Prof. Kostas Vlassopoulos (University of Crete) —”Conceptual systems of slavery - a global perspective”, online. 

     

  • Dr. Seth Richardson (ISAC Chicago) – "Systems of Dependency & the servant Taribu: Conditions and Lived Experience", online.

     

  • Assist. Prof. Saadia Yacoob (Williams College) – "Consensual and forced marriages: Interrogating relations of dependence in Islamic law”, online.

     

Thursday 18.12.2025 (16:15-18:00 EET): Ancient Waste—Trash or Treasure?

  • Prof. AnneMarie Luijendijk (Princeton University): Contextualizing Trash at Oxyrhynchus –online

     

  • Senior Lecturer Louise Blanke (University of Edinburgh): Down the Drain: What Trash Reveals about Bathing Culture in Late Antique Jerash –online

     

All sessions can be attended in person (Theology Faculty hall, Fabianinkatu 33, room 4038) or virtually via Zoom ( / Meeting ID: 678 8979 2118).

We hope to see you there!