How have ancient societies engaged with practices of reuse, repurposing and cultural referencing in both everyday life and exceptional circumstances? The new volume edited by Dr. Mitchka Shahryari and Anastasia Paillard draws on a wide range of sources to examine how objects, spaces and ideas have been adapted and reinterpreted over time.
This interdisciplinary volume explores how practices of reuse, repurposing, and reference shaped material culture across areas from Achaemenid Persia to North Africa, and from Dacia to the Caucasian Iberia, drawing on literary, archaeological, and epigraphic sources. By bringing together contributions from historians, archaeologists, and philologists, the book offers a cross-disciplinary perspective on how the past was continuously reimagined and reshaped in antiquity.
In addition to co-editing and directing the book with Anastasia Paillard, Dr. Shahryari’s own article in the volume, Réemplois, réutilisations et références au sein de l’administration perse achéménide, explores practices of reuse within the Achaemenid Persian administration. She is also the author of the book’s introduction and conclusion, framing the volume’s themes and findings.
We warmly congratulate our group member on the release of the volume!
In addition to the release of the volume, Dr. Shahryari has co-authored another article in Semitica & Classica:
“Note à propos d’un vase à épigraphe phénicienne trouvé à Tell el-Herr (Nord-Sinaï)”
Catherine Defernez, Mitchka Shahryari, Robert Hawley
Semitica & Classica (2024), Brepols
This article explores the discovery and interpretation of a Phoenician-inscribed vessel from Tell el-Herr in northern Sinai, contributing to ongoing conversations in Semitic and Mediterranean archaeology. Read more about the article here!
Mitchka Shahryari is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki (WORK-IT) specializing in the history, archaeology, and epigraphy of the Persian Empire, with a focus on the Idumean ostraca and the administrative landscapes of the Achaemenid period.
Anastasia Paillard is a doctoral student at the University of Lille since 2019, and a temporary teaching and research associate at the University of Montpellier since September 2023.