An international conference was held at the British Museum on 17-19 April 2001, exploring recent progress in our understanding of the history and archaeology of the Herodian dynasty in Syro-Palestine and the Nabataeans in Arabia from the Hellenistic to the Roman period. It was one of the first events in the new Clore Centre for Education, which is part of the Great Court construction for the new millennium.
Lectures and seminars run for thirty minutes, followed by ten minutes of question time. A programme of the three days follows here. There were special displays on Herodian and Nabataean archaeology, and the event coincided with a major exhibition on Cleopatra at the BM. The conference was overwhelmingly attended and it received praise from the participants and the institutions involved.
The members of the organising committee were: T. S. N. Moorhead, J. Reeve, N. Kokkinos, K. D. Politis and J. N. Tubb.
Papers read were published in two volumes (one on the Herods and one on the the Nabataeans) edited respectively by Nikos Kokkinos and Konstantinos Politis. Appended below is the original programme of the conference, followed by the details of the publication.
THE WORLD OF THE HERODS AND THE NABATAEANS
Programme of Events
Tuesday 17 April - The World of the Herods
09:00 Registration of Delegates in the Clore Education Centre
09:30 Welcome by Robert Anderson, the Director of the British Museum, in the BP Theatre; Short addresses by Sam Moorhead and Nikos Kokkinos
09:45 Introduction: Overview of the Herodian World, Fergus Millar (Oxford)
Session 1 – Chair: Martin Goodman (Oxford)
10:00 Josephus as Historian of the Herods, Tessa Rajak (Reading)
10:40 The Royal Court of the Herods, Nikos Kokkinos (London)
11:20 Coffee
Session 2 – Chair: Jonathan Price (Tel Aviv)
12:00 Inscriptions and the History of the Herods, Rudolf Haensch (Cologne)
12:40 Coins of the Herodian Dynasty: The State of Research, Alla Kushnir-Stein (Tel Aviv)
13:20 Lunch - Not provided, but there are several restaurants/cafés in the museum
Session 3 – Chair: Gideon Foerster (Jerusalem)
14:20 Herodian Building Projects and the Romanisation of Judaea, Yoram Tsafrir (Jerusalem)
15:00 New Insights into the Architecture of Herod the Great, Duane Roller (Ohio)
15:40 The Jerusalem Temple of Herod the Great, David Jacobson (London)
16:20 Tea
Session 4 – Chair: Amélie Kuhrt (London) [Amélie Kuhrt could not make it on the day and the session was kindly chaired by Gideon Foerster]
17:00 Public and Private Decorative Art During the Reign of Herod the Great, Sarah Japp (Berlin)
17:40 Special Presentation: The Warren Cup, Dyfri Williams and Susan Walker (The British Museum)
18:20 Reception in the Clore Education Centre (Drinks and Canapés)
Wednesday 18 April - The World of the Nabataeans
09:00 Arrival of Delegates in the Clore Education Centre
09:45 Welcome by John Curtis, Keeper of the Department of the Ancient Near East in the BP Theatre; Short Addresses by Sam Moorhead and Konstantine Politis
Session 1 – Chair: Konstantine Politis (The British Museum)
10:00 Petra Discovered, Petra Depicted, 1812-1847, Norman Lewis (Oxford) and Bryony Llewellyn (Newmarket)
10:40 The Nabataeans in History - Before CE 106 Robert Wenning (Bonn)
11:20 Coffee
Session 2 – Chair: Konstantine Politis (The British Museum)
12:00 Nabataean Inscriptions: Language and Script, John Healey (Manchester)
12:40 Nabataean Religion, John Bartlett (Dublin)
13:20 Lunch - Not provided but there are several restaurants/cafés in the museum
Session 3 – Chair: Judith McKenzie (Oxford)
14:20 Nabataean Monumental Architecture, Laurent Tholbecq (Louvain)
15:00 Nabataean Dwellings: Domestic Architecture and Interior Decoration, Bernard Kolb (Basel) [Bernard Kolb could not make it on the day and a replacement lecture The Markets of Petra was given by Leigh-Ann Bedal (Washington DC)]
15:40 Nabataean Art Between East and West, Joseph Patrich (Haifa)
16:20 Tea
Session 4 – Chair: St. John Simpson (The British Musuem)
17:00 The Nabataeans under Roman Rule - After CE 106, David Graf (Miami)
17:40 Nabataean Cultural Continuity into the Byzantine Period, Konstantine Politis (The British Museum)
18:20 Group Photograph on the steps of The Great Court
18:30 Special viewing of Cleopatra: From History to Myth in the Hotung Exhibition Gallery for all delegates.
Thursday 19 April - The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans
09:00 Arrival of Delegates in the Clore Education Centre
The day’s proceedings are split into two runs of lectures, one for Herods and one for Nabataeans, and a series of material culture seminars. At 17:40 all delegates will reconvene in the BP Theatre for Glen Bowersock’s concluding remarks.
Herodian Lectures in the BP Theatre
Session 1 – Chair: Israel Roll (Tel Aviv)
10:00 The Agrarian Economy in the Herodian Period, Shimon Dar (Ramat-Gan)
10:40 Funerary Practices in Judaea During the Times of the Herods, Rachel Hachlili (Haifa)
11:20 Coffee
Session 2 – Chair: Sean Freyne (Dublin)
12:00 Ossuaries of the Herodian Period, Tal Ilan (Jerusalem)
12:40 Papyri of the Herodian Period, Hannah Cotton (Jerusalem) [Hannah Cotton could not make it on the day and a replacement lecture Medical Aspects of Herod's Death was given by Walter Loebl (Essex)]
13:20 Lunch - Not provided but there are restaurants/cafés in the museum
Session 3 – Chair: Joseph Sievers (Rome)
14:20 Greeks and Romans on the Herods, David Braund (Exeter)
15:00 Jewish Sources on the Herods, Daniel Schwartz (Jerusalem)
15:40 Christian Sources on the Herods, William Horbury (Cambridge)
16:20 Tea
Session 4 – Chair: Nikos Kokkinos (London)
17:00 The Formation of the Herodian Army: Hasmonaean Tradition and Roman Influence, Israel Shatzman (Jerusalem)
17:40 Conclusion: Final Remarks on Herods and Nabataeans, Glen Bowersock (Princeton)
18:00 End of Proceedings
Nabataean Lectures in the Old Lecture Theatre (Room 86)
09:45 Welcome by Jonathan Tubb, Department of the Ancient Near East, The British Museum and Chairman of the PEF
Session 4 – Chair: Jonathan Tubb (The British Museum)
10:00 Textiles of the Graeco-Roman Period from the Dead Sea Region, Hero Granger-Taylor (London)
10:40 The Nabataeans as Pastoral Nomads: An Archaeological Perspective, Steven Rosen (Beersheva)
11:20 Coffee
Session 2 – Chair: Jonathan Tubb (The British Museum)
12:00 Nabataean Water Supply, Irrigation and Agriculture, John Oleson (Victoria)
12:40 The Trade of Aromatics in Nabataea and Judaea, Fawzi Zayadine (Amman)
13:20 Lunch - Not provided but there are restaurants/cafésin the museum
Session 3 – Chair: Judith McKenzie (Oxford)
14:20 The Urban Growth of Petra, Peter Parr (London)
15:00 The Date of the al-Khasneh at Petra: A New Approach, Karl Schmitt-Korte (Frankfurt)
15:40 Cultural and Heritage Management at Petra, Zaki Aslan (Amman)
16:20 Tea
Material Culture Seminars in the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Seminar Room
Session 1 – Chair: Konstantine Politis (The British Museum)
10:00 Nabataean Pottery, Stephan Schmid (Athens)
11:20 Coffee
Session 2 – Chair: Konstantine Politis (The British Museum)
12:00 Conservation of the Textiles and Leather from Khirbet Qazone, Jordan: From Excavation to Display, Pippa Cruikshank, Anna Harrison and John Fields (The British Museum)
13:20 Lunch - Not provided, but there are restaurants/cafés in the museum
Session 3 – Chair: Sam Moorhead (The British Museum)
14:20 Demonstration of Herodian Coins, Andrew Burnett (The British Museum)
15:00 Demonstration of Nabataean Coins, Andrew Meadows (The British Museum)
15:40 Monetary Interchange in Nabataean Petra, Julian Bowsher (London)
16:20 Tea
Session 4 – Chair: Andrew Burnett (The British Museum)
17:00 A Group of 120 Clay Bullae from Petra with Titles of the City, Haim Gitler (Jerusalem)
Material Culture Seminar in the Studio Seminar Room
10:00 - 16:20 Practical Demonstration of Nabataean Pottery Making, James Mason (Isle of Wight)
PUBLICATION (2007):
Nikos Kokkinos (ed.), The World of the Herods: Volume 1 of the International Conference 'The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans' held at the British Museum, 17-19 April 2001 (Oriens et Occidents 14), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2007 (Pb). ISBN: 978-3-515-08817-6. 17 X 24 cm. 328 pp. illustrated.
1. Introduction: Overview of the Herodian World (Fergus Millar)
LITERARY AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
2. Josephus as Historian of the Herods (Tessa Rajak)
3. Greek and Roman Authors on the Herods (David Braund)
4. Herod in Ancient Jewish Literature (Daniel Schwartz)
5. Coins of the Herodian Dynasty: The State of Research (Alla Kushnir-Stein)
6. Ossuaries of the Herodian Period (Tal Ilan)
ARCHAEOLOGY, ART AND ARCHITECTURE
7. The Ideal City in the Eyes of Herod the Great (Ehud Netzer)
8. Herodian Caesarea: The Urban Space (Joseph Patrich)
9. A Herodian Capital in the North: Caesarea Philippi - Panias
(John Francis Wilson & Vassilios Tzaferis)
10. The Jerusalem Temple of Herod the Great (David Jacobson)
11. A Newly Discovered Herodian Temple at Khirbet Omrit in Northern Israel (Andrew Overman, Jack Olive & Michael Nelson)
12. Fortified Manor Houses of the Ruling Class in the Herodian Kingdom of Judaea (Yizhar Hirschfeld)
13. Public and Private Decorative Art in the Time of Herod the Great (Sarah Japp)
14. Funerary Practices in Judaea During the Times of the Herods (Rachel Hachlili)
THE HERODS IN CONTEXT
15. The Royal Court of the Herods (Nikos Kokkinos)
16. The Agrarian Economy in the Herodian Period (Shimon Dar)
17. New Insights into the Building Program of Herod the Great
(Duane W. Roller)
Appendix
18. Abstracts of some papers not included
a. Christian Sources on the Herods (William Horbury)
b. Research on Herodian Inscriptions since the Seventeenth Century (Jerry Vardaman)
c. The Formation of the Herodian Army: Hasmonaean Tradition and Roman Influence (Israel Shatzman)
d. Herodian Building Projects and the Romanisation of Judaea
(Yoram Tsafrir)
List of Contributors
Group Photograph
