The thesis deals with the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the city of Thessalonikê in the 14th and 15th centuries. One of the main aims is to address certain methodological issues linked to the period of transition from the Byzantine to the Ottoman Empire. In this effort, we have employed as an analytical tool the economic theory of New Institutional Economics, which lays significant importance in the study of the institutional framework of societies. The main strands of the thesis are two: firstly, the exploration of the ideological concerns, internal conflicts and response of the Thessalonian society to the changing political environment until the final subjection of the city to the Ottoman Turks in 1430. Secondly, the behaviour of the Thessalonian elite in terms of social and economic practice through an examination of its relationship with the Athonite monasteries and the Late Byzantine state. Our ultimate goal is to shed light on the way provincial elite of Thessalonikê adapted to the political and economic conditions that prevailed in the Late Byzantine period.

This thesis explores the embalming ritual of the Egyptian Late Period through Ptolemaic era (664 – 30 BC). Using an interdisciplinary approach, I incorporate primary and secondary texts, Egyptian funerary art and archaeological remains into my study. I utilize these lines of evidence to reconstruct the embalming ritual to the degree possible and analyze the ways in which its various stages were believed to fulfill the ultimate goal of this rite: preservation of the physical body and eternal life for the deceased. I focus particularly on the archaeological material and explore the visibility of religious practice in the archaeological record. I identify key changes and developments in the embalming ritual from the Late Period through the Ptolemaic Period in order to highlight religious significance placed on embalming during this time period. Funerary art, literature, and archaeological material of the Late through Greco-Roman Periods illustrate an increased focus on the integrity of the corpse as well as the manifestation of decay, the liquid \(rDw\). I examine these ancient sources in order to better understand the nature and development of body-centered funerary practices during this period of Egyptian history.

Academic literature has examined how the development of tourism destinations involves collaborative relationships between the various actors that participate in tourism policy and planning. In terms of an institutional analysis this thesis is about similar processes, yet it also explores the ways in which place- and time-specific material factors and perceptions characterize different patterns of tourism politics. Without making assumptions about the harmonious or conflicting nature of interactions among actors and the contexts surrounding them, the thesis advances the idea of a relational-evolutionary perspective on the processes of tourism policy and planning. Studying the governance of tourism development requires an assessment of the contextual coupling of different elements as both the corollary of earlier events and the precursor of future developments. In this thesis, a strategic-relational approach to tourism governance comprises the conceptual framework that provides explanatory depth into the contextual analysis of experiences and events. The case study approach is employed for the operationalization of the strategicrelational approach in the context of Athens as a tourist-historic and capital city of a highly centralised Southern-European state. The endeavour is based on the collection and analysis of data from documentary sources and semi-structured interviews. The interpretation of empirical evidence through the strategic-relational approach reveals the irony of a multifarious and multi-scalar governance context, which has not met the expectations of interest groups, especially in recent years, concerning tourism development in Athens. In other words, the thesis portrays the challenges and weaknesses that expand within and beyond the boundaries of state apparatus and hinder the enhancement of Athens as an urban tourism destination while recording the perceptions, experiences and practices of various actors.

In the eleventh century the arrival of the Turks from Central Asia resulted in complex socio-economic and political changes in Upper Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra), Diyār Rūm (Asia Minor) and part of Syria (Diyār Shām). The social, cultural, military and economic life of the Turks intertwined with the native culture and heritage of Greeks, Armenians and Syrians living in those territories. Having as starting point the multifaceted encounters some of the important issues I am addressing in my thesis are the important trade routes that crossed Turkmen-dominated areas in the late middle ages; monetary traffic; mines and mints in operation under the Turkmen rule. As the history of that multicultural environment can best be understood and explained through the coin evidence, a big part of my project will cover numismatic evidence. In this context, my study will focus on the socio-economic and cultural relations and interactions between the Byzantines, old inhabitants, the Turkish newcomers and the western powers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the light of the coins and investigate some questions: Why did the Turkmens issue the Greek and bilingual (Greek-Arabic) coins and seals? Why did the Turkmens borrow images (particularly Byzantine style imagery) from the cultural heritage of the areas they ruled?

This thesis is concerned with how the Greek peoples, of primarily the classical period, collectively commemorated the Persian Wars. The data studied within this project are public monuments, which include both physical and behavioural commemorations. A quantitative methodology is employed within this thesis and is a novel approach by which to study Persian War public monuments. This method of analysis allows for a more holistic approach to the data. Through analysing commemorative monuments quantitatively this project, figuratively, re-joins object and context. Studies on Persian War commemoration tend to focus on singular monument types, individual commemorative places, a particular commemorating group, or a specific battle. To think plurally about the ancient Greek commemorative tradition is to refocus attention on the whole incorporating all known commemorative monuments, places, and groups. What emerges from this study is a varied commemorative tradition expressed over space and time. Commemoration of conflict is presented here as a process of exchange, a dialogue between the past and the present. This thesis challenges the idea that a unified pan-Hellenic memory of the Persian Wars existed from the culmination of the conflict and illustrates the varied collective memories and narratives that could be created about the past.

This dissertation presents a discussion on the Late Antique (fifth to eighth centuries AD) landscapes of Cyprus based on the archaeological, environmental and historical records. This dissertation argues that apart from being an economically well-integrated province, Cyprus was also well-integrated into the large social and strategic trajectories of the Late Antique east Mediterranean. This study also uses archaeological data generated by the Sotira Archaeological Project (SAP) to examine the Late Antique landscapes in the south coast urban settlement of Kouion's hinterland. Interestingly, the majority of the loci recorded by the SAP are interpretable as either estate centres or farmsteads. Analysis of these loci revealed the existence of a comparatively complex Late Antique landscape that embodied aspects of the manifold relationships between the productive, commemorative, and authoritative landscapes of Kourion's hinterland during this period.

This work discusses change and continuities taking place in the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Ages in Greece. The geographical range will cover the eastern mainland (including Euboea), Naxos and Knossos, in a period starting from the final palatial culture of LH IIIB2/13th century and ending with the Proto-Geometric/10th century burial evidence. In order to collect and observe the archaeological evidence several tombs assemblages have been researched from both original reports and visits to relevant Greek museums. Finds have been tabulated, and continuities, innovations and losses have been identified. The major categories of material evidence analysed included pottery, metalwork and jewellery but also the form of the tombs and the manner of the burials were considered. The final analysis of these categories of evidence refutes theories of major and or abrupt change, whether caused by invasion or natural phenomena. It rather indicates social modifications following the loss of the palatial centres and their administration and culminating in their gradual replacement by new forms of social structure. Although not directly demonstrable from the existing evidence, a possible scenario is proposed to explain the frequent indications of influence from SE and Central Europe during this transition.

This thesis explores the mechanisms of relations between the Aegean (focusing on Crete and Aegean islands such as Thera) and Egypt (including the Hyksos) from 1900 to 1400 BC. A fundamental tool has been the creation of a searchable database of the portable finds (at the moment, a unique resource) classified as Aegean, Egyptian, Aegeanising, Egyptianising, etc. In addition, the Avaris frescoes and the Aegean processional scenes in Thebes were examined in detail. Two approaches were applied to this evidence of Aegean-Egyptian interactions: World Systems Theory, applied here consistently and in depth (as opposed to earlier, broader discussions of Eastern Mediterranean interactions) and, for the first time in this field, Game Theory. The principles of this approach have been tested and found valid for this data. In contrast to World Systems Theory, Game Theory highlights the role of individuals in Aegean-Egyptian interactions, and not solely the roles of states. It has also enabled the exploration of the causes behind historical events and the mutual benefits of contact, as well as emphasising the factors that promoted mutual stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. As a result it has been possible to show that the Aegeans were key players in Eastern Mediterranean relations.

The focus of this thesis is \(resistance\) \(to\) \(peace\) \(education\) in the conflict-ridden island of Cyprus. Departing from the premise that education, and in particular antagonistic historical narratives immersed in demonised articulations of the Other, have obstructed the transformation of the conflict, I attempt to uncover what is crippling constructive dialogue and critical thinking when it comes to peace education in the Greek-Cypriot community and bring forward ways to improve this. In particular, I analyse negative hegemonic discourses over potential changes to history textbooks that not only distort the objectives of peace education, but also exacerbate existing fears and insecurities. These nationalist discourses present changes associated with peace education as a betrayal and threat to the nationalist struggle, a process I argue constitutes the \(securitization\) of peace education. Through the ‘politics of peace education’ framework, I show how within a particular community, institutions and discourses both constitute and are constitutive of, asymmetric power relationships that act as impediments to peace education. I expose and interrogate the conditions of possibility that ensure resistance to peace education is not only reproduced, but is also successful through the exercise of asymmetrical power relations.

The present study synthesiszes archaeological and historical evidence concerning Attica (Greece), the hinterland of Athens, in the Early and Middle Byzantine periods (4th-12th c.). Although the Byzantine monuments of Attica have been thoroughly studied, no coherent picture of how these relate to broader patterns of occupation and land usage has thus far been presented. In the main, the period under discussion is generally interpreted in three ways: Regarding Late Antiquity, research has often focused on the transition from paganism to Christianity, and to the characterisation of Attica as a ‘stronghold of paganism’. During the so-called ‘Dark-Ages’, Attica is most often presented as being ‘desolate’. Regarding the Middle Byzantine period, archaeological research is dominated by architectural and art-historical study of churches. The present study presents Attica within wider trends which took place in the Byzantine Empire, and which caused its transformation in terms of demography, settlement pattern, administration, road networks, economy, defense and ecclesiastical institutions. After a detailed catalogue and interpretation of all available archaeological material, Attica appears less ‘exceptional’ in Late Antiquity, less ‘desolate’ in the ‘Dark-Ages’, while in the Middle Byzantine period, emergence of a strong local elite matches the erection of monuments of high artistic quality.