On November 5, 2025, a seminar on the methodology of ancient studies, led by Dr. Filip Taterka (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences), will begin.
Methodology of Studying Antiquity
The following programme encompasses the suggested problems to be discussed at the seminars. The order is subjected to changes. The participants are welcome to suggest additional topics and special guests, based on their interests and needs. The seminar takes place on Wednesdays at 3:30 PM (Warsaw time), on a weekly basis. The first working meeting will take place on the 5th of November 2025 at 3:30 PM (Warsaw time). The seminar is convened entirely on Zoom. In order to register, please contact ftaterka@iksio.pan.pl.
1) Types of Sources Used in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Topolski, J. Methodology of History, Dordrecht, Boston and Warsaw, 1976.
Veyne, P., Writing History: Essay on Epistemology, Oxford, 1984.
2) Scholarship as Going Out of the Cave
Recommended literature:
Nietzsche, F., Thus Spoke Zarathustra (any edition), chapter “The Three Metamorphoses”.
Plato, The Republic (any edition), book 7, 514A–517B.
3) The Problem of Cultural Imposition
Recommended literature:
Matić, U., “Minoans”, kftjw and the “Islands in the Middle of wAD wr” beyond Ethnicity, Ägypten und Levante 24 (2014), pp. 277–294.
Matić, U. Ethnic Identities in the Land of the Pharaohs, Cambridge, 2020.
Wrzosek, W., The Problem of Cultural Imputation in History: Cultures versus History, in: J. Topolski (ed.), Historiography Between Modernism and Postmodernism: Contributions to the Methodology of the Historical Research, Amsterdam, 1994, pp. 135–144.
4) Language in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Wittgenstein, L. Tractatus logico-philosophicus (any edition).
Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations (any edition).
5) The Problem of the Cause and Effect
Recommended literature:
Christie, A., Murder on the Orient Express (any edition).
Plato, Phaedo (any edition), 96A–101E.
Hume, D., An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (any edition).
6) Voluntarism and Determinism in Historical Research
Recommended literature:
Braudel, F., History and the Social Sciences: The Longue Durée, Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 32 (2009), pp. 171–203.
Braudel, F., The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (any edition).
7) Scientific and Non-scientific Methods
Recommended literature:
Popper, K. R., The Logic of Scientific Discovery (any edition).
Kuhn, T. S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (any edition).
8) Tradition and Novelty in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
MacDonald, D. N., The Stylistics of Sinuhe: A Corpus Linguistic Study, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 6 (1995), pp. 69–75.
Kitchen, K. A., Sinuhe: Scholarly Method Versus Trendy Fashion, Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 7 (1996), pp. 55–63.
Matić, U., (De)queering Hatshepsut: Binary Bind in Archaeology of Egypt and Kingship Beyond the Corporeal, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23 (2016), pp. 810–831.
9) Drawing Conclusions in Scholarship
Recommended literature:
Spinoza, B., Ethics (any edition), book 1.
10) Literacy in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Baines, J., Visual & Written Culture in Ancient Egypt, Oxford, 2007 (especially chapters 2, 3, and 7).
Knox, B. M. W. and P. E. Easterling, Books and readers in the Greek world, in: P. E. Easterling and B. M. W. Knox (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge, 1985, pp. 1–41.
Kenney, E. J., Books and reader in Roman world, in: E. J. Kenney and W. V. Clausen (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature II: Latin Literature, Cambridge, 1982, pp. 3–32.
11) Written Sources in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
The Gospels (fragments; any edition).
The Second Letter of Peter (any edition).
Ehrman, D. B. and H. Méndez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th ed., Oxford, 2023.
Walsh, R. F., The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture, Cambridge, 2021.
12) Belles-lettres in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
The Tale of Sinuhe (any translation).
Parkinson, R. B., Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection, Oxford and New York, 2002.
13) Epigraphy and Historical Research
Recommended literature:
Brand, P. J., The Historical Record, in: Va. Davies and D. Laboury (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Egyptian Epigraphy and Palaeography, Oxford, 2020, pp. 59–70.
14) The Ruler and His Subjects in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Bickel, S., Kings as Gods in the New Kingdom, Orient 59 (2024), pp. 37–57.
Nyord, R., Seeing Perfection: Ancient Egyptian Images beyond Representation, Cambridge 2020.
Stewart, P., The Social History of Roman Art, Cambridge, 2008.
Veyne, P., The Roman Empire, Harvard, 1997 (chapter on the aims of the art).
Taterka, F., “I Have to Put It on My Wall!”: The Function of “Historical” Reliefs in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, in: A. I. Fernández Pichel (ed.), Of Gods and Men: Research on the Egyptian Temple from the New Kingdom to the Graeco-Roman Period, Monografías de Oriente Antiguo 2, Alcalá de Henares, 2022, pp. 35–79.
15) The Art and Artisanry in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Baines, J., What Is Art?, in: M. K. Hartwig (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art, Oxford 2015, pp. 1–21.
Bahrani, Z., The Graven Image. Representations in Babylonia and Assyria, Philadelphia, 2003.
Hallett, Ch. H., Defining Roman Art, in: B. E. Borg (ed.), A Companion to Roman Art, Oxford 2015, pp. 11–33.
16) Religion and Its Place in the Social Life in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Assmann, J., Culture Memory and Early Civilizations: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination, Cambridge, 2011.
Veyne, P., Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?, Harvard, 1988.
17) Sex and Gender in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Adams, J. N., The Latin Sexual Vocabulary, Baltimore, 1990.
Bahrani, Z., Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia, London and New York, 2001.
Brooten, B. J., Love between Women. Early Christian Responses to Female Homoerotism, Chicago and London, 1996.
Matić, U., Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt, New York, 2021.
Serova, D., U. Matić (eds), Bodies That Mattered: Ancient Egyptian Corporealities, Leiden, 2025.
18) More Than Just the Elites: The Problem of the Lower Classes in Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Le Roy Ladurie, E., Montaillou (any edition).
Ginzburg, C., The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of Sixteenth Century Miller, Baltimore, 1908.
Veyne, P., History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, Harvard, 1987.
19) Ancient Economy
Recommended literature:
Kemp, B. J., Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilization, London and New York, 32018 (chapter 7).
Monroe, Ch. M., Money and Trade, in: D. Snell (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near East, Oxford, 2005, pp. 155–168.
Warburton, D. A., Working, in: D. Snell (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near East, Oxford 2005, pp. 169–182.
20) Ethical Problems Involved in Studying Antiquity
Recommended literature:
Jurman, C., Pharaoh’s New Cloths. On (post)colonial Egyptology, hypocrisy, and the elephant in the room, Propylaeum-DOK 2022 (online publication).
Matić, U., Talk like an Egyptian? Epistemological problems with the synthesis of a vocal sound from the mummified remains of Nesyamun and racial designations in mummy studies, Archaeological Dialogues 28 (2021), pp. 37–49.
Meskell, L., A Future in Ruins. UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace, Oxford, 2018.
Winnerman, J., Forum – Egyptology and Political Theology: An Examination of the Ethics of Scholarship, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 80 (2022), pp. 167–193.
21) How to Present Your Research I: Written Presentations
22) How to Present Your Research II: Oral Presentations
23) Why Should We Study Antiquity?
