Call for Papers

Cross-cultural interaction in ancient Anatolia between indigenous groups, such as the Hattians, Indo-Europeans, including Hittites and Greeks, and Near Eastern cultures, particularly the Hurrians, resulted in a unique environment in which Anatolian peoples interacted with, and reacted to, one another in different ways. These cultural “interfaces” occurred on many levels, including political, economic, religious, literary, architectural and iconographic. The rich and varied archives, inscriptions and archaeological remains of ancient Anatolia, North Syria and nearby islands offer much material for study and discussion.

Emory University will host a multi-disciplinary international conference on Sept. 17–19 2004 at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the mechanisms and results of interaction between the peoples and cultures of ancient Anatolia. The aim is to encourage dialogue among archeologists, historians and philologists in the Classical, Near Eastern and Anatolian traditions.

The conference seeks papers (30 minutes in length) especially on adaptation and change or continuity of culture over time and space, and on the construction of ethnic identities in the multi-cultural area of Anatolia. Textual, archaeological, art historical, philosophical, anthropological and philological approaches will be considered. Papers dealing with the second millennium through the sixth century B.C. are welcome.

Keynote speaker: Walter Burkert, Emeritus Professor for Classical Philology, University of Zürich. Invited speakers include Calvert Watkins, Itamar Singer and Stefano de Martino.

Abstracts (up to 400 words), may be submitted online at the Abstract Submissions Page (Coming Soon!) or emailed by attachment to Billie Jean Collins, Ian Rutherford and Mary R. Bachvarova by March 21, 2004. Please provide name, email and regular mail address, title of paper and university affiliation in a separate file.

If an email submission is impossible, please post typed abstract and cover page to:

Billie Jean Collins
Department of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian Studies
Emory University
S312 Callaway Center
Atlanta, GA 30322.