Handel Als Medium Von Kulturkontakt

Trade/exchange and cultural contacts are topics which defy single-disciplinary approaches to antiquity. They were combined for the last of the interdisciplinary colloquia in ancient studies (2009) organised by junior researchers from Basel University to enhance interdisciplinary research between the various subject areas. A key objective of the format was to bring together students, junior and senior researchers from various fields of research and to integrate their discussion into a teaching unit on both undergraduate and graduate level. The aim of the conference was not to study the topic of trade/exchange as a medium of cultural contact comprehensively but rather to highlight its potential for interdisciplinary teaching and research. Three key aspects were addressed: theoretical perspectives, specific case studies discussing material traces of trade/exchange in the context of cultural contacts, and the extent to which the subject had already been part of ancient discourse. The volume includes chapters by Celine Wawruschka on theoretical approaches to exchange in archaeology, Rainer Nutz on trade in Middle Kingdom Egypt, Faried Adrom on Late Minoan Crete and Egypt, Rania Kirreh on the Phoenician trading network as witnessed by ceramic sources, Lucja Zieba on slave trade/human trafficking in the Homeric epics, and Beatrice Wyss on trade between the Mediterranean and India as mirrored in Philon's criticism on luxury. A concluding chapter by Melanie Wasmuth (with students' contributions) synthesizes discussions during the colloquium and follow-up sessions.