Unseen—Untold

Unseen—Untold: Stories of ancient non-elite communities

NINO Postdoctoral Research Fellow 5^th Annual Conference
Leiden, 18-20 December 2024

Organized by: Alisée Devillers

The Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO) at Leiden University is pleased to host the conference “Unseen—Untold: Stories of non-elite communities”, in 2024. The meeting will take place from Wednesday 18^th to Friday 20^th of December 2024 in Leiden. If you wish to attend, registration before November 22th, 2024 is mandatory. Jump to registration

Conference theme

Following the general call in social sciences to focus on those forgotten by history based on elite’s records, this conference aims to offer new perspectives on the material and textual culture of those unseen and unmentioned in the ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern monumental landscape. To unravel the visual and written stories of ancient non-elite people, speakers will be invited to ground their discourse on individual and collective identity formation and will be encouraged to include and adapt anthropological and sociological theories on this topic into their presentation.

The conference will articulate several research paths:

Defining concepts. As it has already been underlined, we lack precise definitions for people we call “intermediate elite,” “lower elite,” or “sub-elite,” and we need an accurate adaptation of these concepts inherited from the social sciences. It should be noted, however, that the definition of non-elite socio-professional classes might vary depending on the chrono-cultural contexts in which they were set. Therefore, the following questions should be asked anew for each different context: who were these people who managed to gather enough human and economic resources to appear within the monumental landscape built by the elite? How did they define themselves, individually and collectively? Which (new) socio-professional categories emerged at a specific period/place? What did they appear in our documentation?
Close-up on the added value of art historical-materialist approaches. Especially welcome are communications using art historical analytic methodology to make sense of ancient artifacts to assess social rankings in terms of prestige and preciousness. Such perspectives will question the means used to access funerary commemoration: what was legitimate or accepted to borrow from elite culture? Which networks were used to commission their own funerary monuments? What was valued as prestigious and precious? Which tricks were used to make a less valuable material “look like” an elite object?
A cross-cultural perspective. Scholars from other fields are welcome to share their research on other chrono-cultural contexts. These comparanda may help us to identify the specificities of ancient Egyptian/Nubian/Near Eastern societies and highlight culturally specific mechanisms at stake in these contexts.

Program

December 18, 2024 (Academiegebouw)

09h30-10h00	Introductive words – Alisée Devillers
10h00-10h30	PANEL 1: Defining Non-Elite Categories – Keynote: Marta Kaczanowicz
10h30-10h50	Richard Bussmann – Why the Non-Elite Matter
10h50-11h20	Coffee break
11h20-11h40	Sherouk Shehada – How Paleographical Studies Help in Defining the Identities of the Sub-Elite Community? Case Study on Serabit el-Khadim Inscriptions
11h40-12h00	Jean-Pierre Pätznick – Kollektivsiegel mjtr and rnw: Investigation of Social Classes in Early Dynastic Egypt in the III^rd Millenium BC
12h00-12h20	Hossam Mohammed Abdelfattah Helal Hegazi – The Poor Economic Classes and Social Solidarity in Ancient Egypt
12h20-12h50	Discussion
12h50-14h30	Lunch break
14h30-15h00	PANEL 2: Light on Special Social Categories – Keynote: Delphine Driaux – How the Unseen of Egyptian Society Are Made Visible in Private Tomb Imagery
15h00-15h20	Gabrielle Choimet – The Implicit Presence of Captives in Kushite Context
15h20-15h50	Coffee break
15h50-16h10	Ramona d’Alfonso – The One Who Knows the Animals
16h10-16h30	Valentina Gennaro – Defining šaga: A Social History of Prisoners of War in Early Mesopotamia
16h30-17h00	Discussion
	BORREL – Poster session

December 19, 2024 (P.J. Veth Building)

08h30-09h00	PANEL 3: Around the Household – Keynote: Miriam Müller – The Archaeology of Household Rituals
09h00-09h20	Giorgia Marchiori – Snapshots of Daily Life from a Non-Elite Late Antique House at Kom al-Ahmer, Western Nile Delta
09h20-09h40	Georgia Long – All Made of the Same Clay: Decoding the Interaction Between Social Groups in Middle Bronze Age Egypt through the Case Study of Clay Figurines
09h40-10h10	Coffee break
10h10-10h30	Charlotte Beryl Rose – Figural Magic: Clay Objects in Medical-Magical Context
10h30-11h00	Discussion
11h00-11h30	PANEL 4: Economy, Politics and Environment – Keynote: Juan Carlos Moreno García – Peasants, Traders and Nubians: Elusive Sub-Elites in Bronze Age Egypt
11h30-11h50	David Danzig – Social Structure of Rural Immigrant Communities in the 6^th-5^th Century BCE Babylonia from Local Sources
11h50-12h10	Sue Kelly – WiP Report: The Impact of Political and Climate Change on Women’s Agency: A Social Power Analysis
12h10-12h30	Discussion
12h30-14h30	Lunch break
14h30-15h00	PANEL 5: (Re)commodifying Artifacts (or Humans) – Keynote: Kathlyn M. Cooney – Funerary Recycling and Reuse by Non-Elites and Marginalized Communities in Late Bronze Age Thebes
15h00-15h20	Kholoud Mohamed Shawky – The Players with the Sands and the Fire between the Elimination and Appreciation
15h20-15h50	Coffee break
15h50-16h10	Marina Sartori – Qenna and his Book of the Dead: Merchants in the New Kingdom between Invisibility and Luxury
16h10-16h30	Sara Caramello – From One Elite to Another? Physicians Travelling among the Ancient Near East Royal Courts
16h30-17h00	Discussion

December 20, 2024 (Leemanszaal, RMO)

10h15-10h40	PANEL 6: Inside the Necropolis – Keynote: Nico Staring – Strategies for Monumental Self-Commemoration in the Memphite New Kingdom Necropolis
10h40-11h00	Victoria Arroyo – Searching for the Non-Elite Cemetery
11h00-11h20	Coffee break
11h20-11h40	Amr Khalaf Shahat – Food and Identity: Case Studies from the Non-Elite Cemetery in Deir el Ballas and Nag ed Deir
11h40-12h10	Discussion
12h10-14h00	Lunch break
14h00-14h30	PANEL 7: Playing and Crafting New Symbols – Keynote: Aude Semat – At the Margins of High Society. Intermediate Elites in the Theban Necropolis During the Early 18^th Dynasty
14h30-14h50	Gema Menéndez – Private Theban Stelae Makers during the Ramesside Period
14h50-15h10	Katarzyna Kapiec – Exploring Ritual Linen in Ancient Egypt: Insights from Non-Elite Perspectives
15h10-15h40	Coffee break
15h40-16h00	Concluding words
16h00-17h30	Facultative visit of the RMO Egyptian collection

Disclaimers

The conference is organized on-site. Colleagues and students are welcome to join the audience, as room capacities allow.

We plan to livestream the conference, for those who cannot participate in person. A link to the video stream will be provided in due course.

Registration, contacts, and information

For attendance in person, registration before November 22th, 2024 is mandatory. If you wish to attend, please register through this online form. Attendance is free of charge, and on a first come, first served base.

The conference will be livestreamed through Zoom – please note: no recordings will be made, and it will not be possible to watch the lectures afterwards. Register here to receive the link to the livestream via email.

For additional questions and information, please contact the organizing committee: a.k.m.devillers@hum.leidenuniv.nl or NINO-conference@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Deadlines and dates

Registration for audience members, deadline:	November 22^th 2024
Conference:	December 18^th-20^th 2024
Article for proceedings, deadline:	February 28^th 2025

Image credit: Relief depicting workshop (RMO inv.no. AP 40), Saqqara, New Kingdom. Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.