BRLSI Meeting Groups

ANTIQUITY AT BRLSI

Background: This research, discussion and lecture association was originally conceived as a forum to consider the Classical past but the remit was substantially broadened to reflect prevailing public and member interests, hence the generic, inclusive title `Antiquity`. The BRLSI has a long and honourable tradition of welcoming those who wish to expand knowledge by accessing high-quality, thoughtful scholarship. Though the Institution is affiliated to local universities it maintains independence of thought, offering an opportunity for scholars to explore and express views and theories at the cutting-edge of human endeavour in arts and sciences, unhampered by course requirements or funding restrictions. The Antiquity programme pursues a policy of accuracy and best interpretation in all fields.

Remit: This group actively studies and considers the ancient world from the earliest known civilisations down to the period of Late Antiquity in seventh century C.E.. Currently the best-recorded and most numerous literary, as opposed to landscape texts, of the early civilisations are those of the city states of the fifth millennium BCE in the Near East. However, contemporary international archaeological data about even earlier civilisations such as the Mehrgahr Indus Valley culture and the very early oikumene of Aratta (the first world state originating on the territory of Ukraine) is filtering through as new discoveries, interpretations and translation of foreign scholarship improves.

Within this nominal time-frame, the sessions will endeavour to reflect the plethora of fresh and emergent information being made available and they will report on and offer interpretations of newly discovered sites and re-assess past interpretations.

Content: All aspects of antiquity and associated ancient wisdom are considered on any part of the globe. Moreover there is a catholicity of approach; concepts about antiquity, recognitions and misrecognitions, together with the ways they were used in the past and now. The latest scholarly methods of accessing Antique history are considered, for example, utilising the rich possibilities inherent in an interdisciplinary approach and examining the diversity of identities. The interdisciplinary nature of this subject permits it to explore perhaps unconventional, non-standard relationships with subjects, perhaps especially, a very productive relationship with modern science, hence the inclusion of scientific topics viewed from the perspective of ancient history and myth.

Invitation: Those interested in speaking on any subjects of relevance to the Antique world or with other suggestions about this group may reach Lee Hooker by email, listed above.

FORTHCOMING LECTURES 2010: Antiquity group is contributing two 'Roman' lectures to the major BRLSI lecture series, ROMANS in BATH, to mark the 1600th anniversary of British independence from Rome; commences March 2010.

ROMANS in BATH LECTURE:
22 March: 'Britain's First Information Revolution - How the Roman conquest shrank Britain and changed the way people communicated, measured and cursed':
Professor Ian Haynes, (Professor of Archaeology, University of Newcastle) www.ncl.ac.uk/historical/staff/profile/ian.haynes

14th June : 'The Ka'ba Revelation' - Who built it, when & more importantly, why? : Paul Rhodes, writer & independent scholar (Bath)
The enigmatic Ka'ba at Mecca has resisted all attempts to understand its real, historical significance. Recent research into its beginnings has finally unveiled many of its secrets so that at last scholarly, proper sense can be made of the many ritual practices still associated with it. The speaker is actively researching the stunningly rich history of this very ancient site and has brought forward some enormously exciting connections to other cultures and histories that help to place it more firmly in clear context and hence understand its original purpose.

13th July : 'The Electric Universe' - a new view of the universe as witnessed by ancient man?: Wallace Thornhill, Physicist (Australia) www.holoscience.com
Do we need to reassess our fundamental assumptions about what drives the universe? The ‘Electric Universe' model recognizes electrical forces as the dominant influence in shaping the universe and a major factor in determining cultural and historical experience. Standard cosmology currently dismisses electricity as a significant factor in space. But what if space is not electrically inert and cosmologists' cherished faith in the gravitational model is mis-placed? In what way would an electric universe have affected us in the past and how might it still affect us today?

ROMANS in BATH LECTURE:
10 September : 'I Know my Rights: but what laws were there in Roman Bath?': Professor Derek Roebuck, (Inst of Advanced Legal Studies)
Roman Bath lasted five centuries. How would those who lived there have gone about making a claim or defending it? What criminal law controlled their behaviour? There is no general history of Roman law in Britannia and, if there were, would it answer these questions? Can scholarship with imagination provide some answers? The presentation format will adopt the authentic form of a legal disputation set in the city of Bath during the late Roman period.

19th October : ' How 'Minoan' was Ancient Minoan Crete' : Dr. Anna Simandiraki-Grimshaw (Faculty of Cont. Education, University of Cambridge) www.anna-simandiraki.co.uk

Lee Hooker (Chair, Antiquity)
August 2010

March 2010

Lee Hooker
March 2010