With the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 and the subsequent establishment of four Frankish states in the Middle East, individuals of European descent came to control and administer areas of the Levant. Frankish regional authority persisted until 1291, when their diminished coastal territories fell to the Mamluks. Yet, despite a Frankish assumption of power in the Eastern Mediterranean, what e↵ect this had on communities in the countryside is still unknown. The purpose of this thesis is to resolve some of this uncertainty, by examining the Frankish impact on rural settlements in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Frankish impact on communities was investigated through an exploration of the medieval landscape and seigneurial obligations, two attributes that affected all rural sites in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, regardless of other settlement characteristics. Investigating physical qualities of the countryside through palaeoenvironmental information, medieval views of landscape, and the connection between natural attributes and settlement sites, suggested that despite a favourable climate, Frankish impact on rural communities was limited and regional. Likewise, exploration of seigneurial obligations imposed on settlements similarly implied that Frankish impact was localised to specific areas; however it also suggested that the Franks maintained a sound understanding of indigenous agricultural customs outside of areas they significantly a↵ected. It showed Frankish disinterest in intervening with local traditions when established conventions benefited landlords. This thesis contributes to the field of Crusader Studies by nuancing the current view of the e↵ect the Franks had on communities in the countryside. Frankish impact in rural environments is presented as localised and restricted, but consciously imposed in the settlements that were a↵ected.

The main theme of this work is a discussion of the literary worth of the works of a number of authors of the Later Roman Empire. The works considered are those of Ausonius, Rutilius Namatianus, the anonymous Querolus and, to a lesser extent, Sidonius Apollinaris. The authors will be discussed in turn, beginning with Ausonius, the first chronologically. His work will be examined in the light of his career and of the prevailing conditions in Gaul during his lifetime. Particular attention will be paid to the use made of nature in his works, especially the Mosella. The poem by Rutilius Namatianus known as the De reditu suo will be examined both from an historical and from a literary viewpoint. The Querolus will be considered for its effectiveness as a piece of drama, particular attention being paid to the various kinds of humour to be found in the piece and the way in which it could have been staged. A dating of the play to the mid-fifth century will be suggested. The life and work of Sidonius Apollinaris will be examined in order to provide a view of the change in the political situation in the fifth century and therefore in the environment for literary production. It will be suggested that the writers in Gaul from the fourth century onwards were subject to influences not only from Roman literature but also from native traditions, the result of the Celtic Renaissance of the third century. It will be concluded, however, that despite these indisputable influences and also their undoubted local patriotism, all the writers were basically Roman in outlook, still determined to preserve civilisation on a Roman basis rather than a local one.

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This study presents a re-evaluation of the ceramic material from the sanctuary of the Kabeiroi at Thebes in Boeotia. The lack of relevant literary evidence necessitates a reliance on the archaeology as the primary means of interpretation. In particular the archaeological context and iconography of the ceramics offer an interesting and highly unusual perspective into the secretive and often peculiar nature of the Kabeiric cult. Previous studies conducted on the ceramic material have only considered it in iconographic terms, yet by reappraising the data using an analytical approach and socio-archaeological theory it is possible to acquire a deeper understanding of the operation of this cult. By examining the form and function of the ceramics we can elicit inferences relating to the role of wine and intoxication within the rituals of the sanctuary. Comparative studies between form and iconography can further develop our interpretations of the scenes as representations of cult practices. The evidence is further scrutinised for indications as to whether the Theban site is characteristic of the Kabeiric cult as a whole, or if its unique iconography demonstrates its individuality within the ancient world. The data from other Kabeiric and non-Kabeiric sanctuaries clearly indicates that cults within the Greek world were experiencing parallel development in relation to their ceramic usage. Furthermore, the ceramic material from purely Kabeiric sites also shows the same biases in the archaeological record with an emphasis on the preparation and consumption of wine. Extending this research to other archaeological material also implies a common iconographic heritage stretching beyond the boundaries of the Theban site. By considering the ceramics in a more analytical manner than that of previous research – combining archaeological, anthropological and art historical models – we can move away from the premise that the decorated Greek vase is merely a work of art. Instead it is possible to detail the sanctuary’s evolution through the development of the ceramics and to offer insights into the society that produced and utilised them.

This thesis explores the process of archaeological interpretation by considering how we can interpret the Iron Age settlement in Wigtownshire, SW Scotland. Traditional images of Iron Age warfaring hierarchical societies have persisted through the use of well-established classifications, such as ‘fort’ or ‘roundhouse’ and by the uncritical acceptance of the definition and identification of ‘settlement’ in the archaeological record. Alternative interpretations of Iron Age settlement landscapes are possible by considering a variety of other observations, which traditional classifications ignore, such as the landscape context of specific monuments. This thesis presents a critical review of these alternative interpretations and other more traditional classifications used to define Iron Age settlement and illustrates how multiple narratives of the past can co-exist. This thesis emphasises the essential part classification plays in archaeological interpretation. Interpretation is a complex and ongoing process and it is important to be aware of the assumptions that we make and how these may affect further interpretations of the archaeological evidence. Common standardised classifications stress the importance of certain morphological characteristics over other observations and the interpretations of the archaeological evidence are therefore restricted. Traditional approaches neglect the importance of context, which is integral to the interpretation of the archaeology on many levels. Understudied, but archaeologically rich, Wigtownshire is an ideal case-study. Rather than limiting the discussion of archaeological features by only comparing them through traditional ‘typologies’, here experiential observations of the evidence – within their landscape context – offer an alternative approach by which the iron Age in Wigtownshire can be considered. A flexible process of classification is advocated – dependent upon the research questions that are addressed in particular studies. My approach to the re-evaluation of the Iron Age settlement in Wigtownshire is also influenced by a critique of the definition of the term ‘settlement’ in archaeology. The identification of ‘domestic’ practices in contrast to ‘ritualised’ ones in the Iron Age evidence is questioned and from a variety of perspectives the complex processes of settlement in the Iron Age are explored.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a thematic analysis of the historical, political, and economic context of Seleucid portraiture, namely that on coins, but with reference to gemstones, seals, and sculpture where evidence exists. No attention has been given to the aesthetic value of such items, as has been the habit of art historians, as a great deal of the evidence analysed here consists of bronze coins. Nor is this work intended to be a catalogue, as technical information on coins has been well documented in the many catalogues in this field. The first chapter provides a general survey of the issue of autonomy and its relationship to the Seleucids, whether among the Greek poleis of Asia Minor or other autonomous areas of the Seleucid empire. This is followed by an obligatory discussion of the influence of Alexander on the Seleucids, which has been kept deliberately short due to the amount of scholarship already completed in this field. The issue of warfare and its effect on Seleucid iconography follows this. The first three chapters cover issues affecting Seleucid iconography, whether for legitimate kings or otherwise, which leads on to a chapter covering the Seleucid usurpers. The function of this chapter within the thesis is twofold; firstly, it introduces the concept of usurpation and its effect on the iconography of legitimate kings; secondly, it contains extensive discussion of the coinages of the individual usurpers. The next four chapters serve to analyse the variation of the royal image for legitimate kings, assessing the effect of autonomy, warfare, Alexander, and usurpation on the changing royal image. The kings discussed in the respective chapters were chosen on similarities of iconography and factors affecting this. The final chapter is a discussion on Seleucid female iconography, affected by many of the same factors as male portraiture.

This thesis describes a new approach tor investigating cairns, stone enclosures, stone alignments and other small archaeological features found in the deserts around the Egyptian Nile valley. Investigation of these features has previously been restricted by their ephemeral nature, damage from modern development and the limited artefactual, epigraphic or archaeological evidence associated with them. This research focuses on a case study of eight cairns and adjacent courts at the Middle Kingdom carnelian mine of Stelae Ridge in the Gebel el-Asr quarries in southern Egypt. While accepting previous interpretations of the cairn-courts as ritual structures created for the worship of local divinities, this research sought a fuller interpretation of the site in its landscape context and a more nuanced understanding of the structures, their chronological development and the decisions which governed their location and layout. This was achieved through systematic visibility analysis of the eight cairn-courts with geographic information system (GIS) software, which provided new data concerning the patterns of visibility associated with the structures. Interpretation of these patterns in the context of the archaeological and textual evidence from the cairn-courts, practical experience of visibility at the site and evidence from the wider cultural context provided a new and more detailed understanding of the site. Stelae Ridge was chosen because cairns upon it made highly visible landmarks, particularly for people travelling south towards the other sites in the Gebel el-Asr gneiss quarrying region. Initially practical, the Stelae Ridge cairns also developed a ritual function, creating tension between the highly visible cairns and the secluded ritual courts, and suggesting that the cairn-building process became ritualised. By the end of the cairn-building period, in the reign of Amenemhat III, new cairns were constructed in less visible positions, suggesting that the ritual aspects of the cairn-courts had largely subsumed their earlier practical function as landmarks. This type of GIS research has never been undertaken on Egyptian archaeological sites and previous interpretations of visibility in Egyptian contexts have been limited. The detailed interpretation of the Stelae Ridge cairn-courts achieved here, shows that the technology and approach applied to this research can make a meaningful contribution to the investigation of other similar non-formal structures, and at Egyptian sites in general. It also reveals that GIS visibility analysis can answer relevant archaeological questions, when employed as a tool for data generation and properly contextualised with other evidence from the site.

This thesis explores the composition and arrangement of Martial’s twelve-book series, the Epigrams. I investigate the way in which key themes combine to create a pseudo-narrative for the reader to follow which connects not only individual books but the series as a whole. This twelve-book series creates an ’anti-epic’, something which is meant to be considered as a whole and read, and reread, as such. In the course of investigating the inter- and intratextual links within the Epigrams, we see how Martial’s corpus instructs its reader on how (and even where) to read the text. In doing so Martial is engaging with a literary discourse at the end of the first century on different patterns of reading. The key themes explored, oral sex and os impurum, food and dining, and a literary theme comprised of reading and writing, all form part of this programmatic literary instruction to the reader. I have identified the importance of ’orality’ within the Epigrams as part of the defined method of reading. Applying concepts from Reader-Response theory,and thinking about the way readers read, we can see that Martial’s books of epigrams are more than the sum of their parts.

Over one hundred and seventy maps and plans are preserved from the ancient Near East, drawn on clay tablets or inscribed in stone, though a full study of all the available cartographic material from Mesopotamia has never before been undertaken. This thesis offers a critical analysis of these maps and plans, with particular focus on their graphic conventions, typology and function in Near Eastern society. The text on many of these maps is also undeciphered and a number of examples are translated here for the first time, including an unpublished map of an irrigation network in the Schøyen Collection. By examining all this material in a single study, it becomes clear that there was a coherent documentary genre in Mesopotamia which was cartographic in nature, and which served a variety of administrative and planning purposes. The Near Eastern cartographic corpus is also contextualised within the wider history of cartography, so that its place in the global development of graphic mapping can be better understood.

This thesis provides a history of squeeze making in the discipline of Egyptology from its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century to the continued use of tin squeezes in modern archaeological practice. The difference in approach to squeezes between the Egyptological and the Mediterranean disciplines will also be discussed. The analysis of the on-going value of squeezes produced more than a century ago highlights their importance for conservation and archival work as well as historical interpretation of the monuments of ancient Egypt. Using squeezes from seven archival collections in the UK as case studies, the accompanying catalogue and discussion highlights the information that can be obtained from the study of paper squeezes taken of Egyptian monuments in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The squeezes studied highlight a number of inscriptions which have disappeared or have been extremely damaged since the squeezes were taken, demonstrating the value of these documents in reconstructing the monuments of the past. The overall objective is to encourage scholars to identify the importance these squeezes hold for epigraphic, social and conservation disciplines which acknowledging the damage caused in their production should not define how they are studied (or indeed not studied) in the modern world.