The graduate students in Assyriology of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, in collaboration with colleagues from Yale University and Brown University, are delighted to announce the fifth annual Graduate Symposium in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (GSANES).
Topic: Trade in the Ancient Mediterranean World
When: March 3-4, 2023
Where: Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA)
Submission deadline: January 9th, 2023
Call for Papers
This graduate symposium brings together students of the ancient world to present and discuss their work in order to grow a community of early career scholars in the field. Student presentations will be received in a supportive environment and given feedback by colleagues and faculty members from participating universities. We invite presentations from graduate students engaged in the study of the ancient world, including Assyriology, Classics, Egyptology, Hebrew Bible, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Economic History. We welcome a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches to the conference topic, both as specific case studies and more general perspectives.
Please submit an abstract of max. 250 words to gsanes2023@gmail.com by January 9th, outlining a paper to be given at the symposium. The presentation should last 20 minutes, followed by a 10 minute discussion. You are encouraged to include a graphic presentation or printed handout for the audience on the day. The maximum number of speakers is limited and will be selected through an anonymous evaluation in consultation with faculty members.
Topic
This year’s symposium will explore trade and economic exchange across the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, from the 4th millennium BC down through the 1st millennium BC. Trade networks, and the exchange of goods more broadly, represent one of the most important areas of research in the study of ancient economy. While trade and economic exchange have a rich tradition of scholarship, since Karl Polanyi’s controversial 1957 Trade and Market in Early Empires, the past decades have seen a number of developments in our understanding of long-distance maritime and overland trade networks. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, from Dunhuang to Kanesh, the size of ancient long-distance trade networks, the frequency of international trade, and the capacity of economies in the deep past to accommodate commercialization and physical markets, have been uncovered on a scale that is both staggering and unprecedented.
This conference invites contributors to examine more closely the role of trade in ancient societies and economic systems as reflected in archaeological, visual, and textual sources, including literary, iconographic, and theoretical approaches. We welcome contributions that explore trade networks, interregional and local commercial interactions, modes of transport and infrastructure, merchants and agents of trade, goods and materials, value systems and media of exchange, and weights and measures, as well as the intersection of
trade and politics.
Program
We encourage colleagues and faculty from nearby universities to attend. Presenting students will greatly benefit from your presence and feedback. The symposium will begin on Friday, March 3rd with an opening keynote lecture, followed by a dinner for the speakers. Student presentations will take place on Saturday, March 4th, and the conference will conclude with a plenary discussion. We invite everyone to stay for a final dinner and cheerful gathering on Saturday night.
We expect all participants to stay in town for two nights. There is no conference fee and student speakers will be provided with accommodation. Students who are not presenting but wish to participate are welcome to do so, but will be responsible for their own accommodation. We ask all participants to cover their travel expenses. We will distribute a detailed schedule of the event to all registered participants at a later date.
Registration
We ask anyone who wishes to participate, either as a speaker or audience member, to send an email togsanes2023@gmail.com before December 31st. Please indicate your full name, university, department, and year of study (if student). If you wish to present, please include your abstract in your email and write ABSTRACT in the subject heading.