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The role of Roman patrons and their relations with local communities is investigated. Northern Italy has been chosen as the region where this investigation will be carried out. It will be shown that the institution of patronage in northern Italy underwent a process of decline as the rest of the empire. This point will be displayed by taking into consideration the legal, literary, and epigraphic body of evidence related to the institution of patronage in northern Italy. A careful reading of the sources will show that the title of patronus was granted by local communities as a reward for the patronus’s generosity. Such title did not obligate these patroni to benefit their communities, although many did. This gradual process of decline ultimately reached its peak under the 2nd century AD when patronage transformed into a symbolic institution. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The architectural analysis of archaeologically known royal palaces in Egyptological studies has shown that ancient Egyptian royal palaces with similar setting might have served similar function. The differences recognizable in the few royal structures known from the Middle Kingdom onwards must reflect differences in the conception that was at the basis of their construction and the activities performed within each site. Such architectural variety corresponds to the complexity of the terminology associated with Egyptian palaces. There are at least five terms for “palace” that have been identified in the Egyptian vocabulary - 'h, pr-'3, pr-nswt, h_nw and stp-s3 – the exact meaning of the majority of which needs to be specified. The present lexicographical study aims to understand what each word would have been for by analyzing its use in different contexts: private titles, official inscriptions or literary texts. The final attempt of this work is to identify a possible correspondence between such terminology and the surviving structures. As an example of a possible application of the lexicographical study to the archaeological evidence, the word ‘h, referring in texts to a royal structure with ritual function, might be related to palaces with a tripartite and axial ordering comparable with temples.

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.

Cette thèse de doctorat offre deux aspects de la recherche en épigraphie médiévale, à savoir la réalisation d'un corpus des inscriptions médiévales conservées et/ou concernant les diocèses d'Arras, de Cambrai, de Liège, de Thérouanne et de Tournai, et l'étude de ces inscriptions dans une perspective historique. Pour cela, les épigraphes ont été classées en quatre groupes: les inscriptions sur les objets archéologiques mérovingiens, les inscriptions funéraires (épitaphes, endotaphes et authentiques de reliques), les inscriptions relatives à l'histoire des bâtiments religieux et les inscriptions sur les objets liturgiques. Pour chaque catégorie, les formulaires des textes ont été analysés pour eux-mêmes, puis les uns par rapport aux autres. Ils ont ensuite été étudiés en tenant compte du contexte d'insertion (emplacement dans les édifices de culte, rapport avec d'autres textes ou avec des images, etc.). Le but de cette démarche est de déterminer la fonction des inscriptions médiévales et d'enrichir notre connaissance de l'histoire de la mort et de la liturgie au Moyen Age.

La thèse compare la documentation épigraphique relative aux métiers portuaires de six cités de la Méditerranée antique (Aquilée, Ostia-Portus, Arles, Lyon, Narbonne, Hispalis). La première partie étudie les termes latins relatifs aux métiers portuaires pour déterminer le rôle des professionnels. Cette première partie doit être envisagée en complément du corpus documentaire. La seconde partie étudie la hiérarchie sociale à l'intérieur des métiers portuaires et vise à identifier les éléments d'identité et de cohésion au sein du port. Enfin, la dernière partie évalue la place des professionnels portuaires dans l'économie locale et au sein des élites. Le lien avec d'autres cités est également envisagé. / The thesis compares the epigraphical documentation of port occupations of six Mediterranean cities (Aquileia, Ostia-Portus, Arles, Lyon, Narbonne, Hispalis). The first part studies the latin words concerning port occupations to determine the role of the professionals. This first part must be viewed in addition to the documentary corpus. The second part studies the social hierarchy inside port occupations and aims to identify elements of identity and social cohesion inside the port. Finally, the last part estimates the place of port professionals in local economy and inside the elites. The link with other cities is also considered.

archives@tulane.edu / A large gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people exist in Guatemala. I propose that this gap exists in part due to the intentional exclusion of indigenous related content, such as indigenous languages and pre-Columbian history, from the national curriculum. Ladinos see Maya and other indigenous groups as inferior mainly because they ignore their customs, languages, and cultures. In order to remediate this issue, the Maya Scripta project developed an online database containing Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. This brings to the public information usually available only in specialized professional journals and mostly in English. Maya Scripta allows professionals, students, amateurs, and curious to access Maya inscriptions and their translation in Spanish for free and in a friendly and interactive display. This compensates for the lack of information in the school system. A community-engaged project developed with the Regional Museum of Southeastern Petén, Juan Pedro Laporte Molina, in Dolores, Petén, tested this hypothesis. The project consists of three axes: Marketing and Exposure, Exhibition, and Education. Through the first two axes we increased the number of visitors to the museum and improved the overall visit experience. The third and most important axis consisted of pairing with the museum and Universidad del Valle de Guatemala to develop workshops for local students from Dolores using the online platform of Maya Scripta. Through them, they learned about ancient and modern Maya, alongside with how the Maya hieroglyphic writing system works. As students attended more workshops, they increased their knowledge about the Maya and also had a more positive perception, proving the usefulness of Maya Scripta as a teaching tool and the importance of including indigenous related content in the classroom. Surveys also found that the environment where students interact plays an important role in how they understand Maya groups and also on what ethnic filiation students show. The project proved how a community-engaged approach can yield better results for all the parties involved in a collaborative, effective, and successful way. / 1 / Ruben Morales Forte

The study of hieroglyphic texts is vital to the interpretation of the ancient Maya and how their worldview contributed to their daily lives. Hieroglyphic decipherment has been an arduous undertaking and a wide variety of the Late Classic Maya writing styles has also been documented. When specific hieroglyphic phrases are not fully understood it has been necessary to utilize other sources of information to help increase the understanding of these texts. The “lubat” glyphic phrase has been utilized in multiple mediums throughout the Late Classic period and is described as an artist’s signature. This artist signature is directly related to specific iconographic elements and themes that represent a cosmological view of the ancient Maya. This thesis demonstrates the connection between the lu-bat glyphic phrase and iconographic themes indicative of liminal powers exercised by the social elites in terms of the underworld. This connection is strengthened through the evaluation of the associated texts and iconographic analysis. While interpretations of the lu-bat glyphic phrase have suggested that it represented an artist’s signature, a concise articulation of the hieroglyphic values for the lu-bat glyphic phrase has not yet be achieved. The iconographic imagery involved with this glyph demonstrates an interactive level between the conduit being and liminal actions. This interaction depicts the individual involved as a direct medium for the ritual activities of the elites in terms of the underworld.