Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
Cretan Lie and Historical Truth: Examining Odysseus' Raid on Egypt in its Late Bronze Age Context. In
V. Bers, D. Elmer, D. Frame, & L. Muellner (Ed.),
Donum Natalicium Digitaliter Confectum Gregorio Nagy Septuagenario a Discipulis Collegis Familiaribus Oblatum (pp. 1-41) . Washington, DC, Center for Hellenic Studies.
Click Here to Download Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
Crown Jewel of the Fleet: Design, Construction, and Use of the Seagoing Balsa of the Pre-Columbian Andean Coast. In
ISBSA 13: The 13th International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology . Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractThe seaworthiness of the balsa sailing raft, and the seafaring aptitude of those who built and sailed it, has been the subject of critically biased, often conflicting accounts over the nearly five centuries since the Spanish conquest of the Inka empire. This paper objectively marshals historical and archaeological evidence to recover the pre-Columbian design and construction of this ‘Crown Jewel’ of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian fleet, and to demonstrate the role of the landscape – specifically, environmental conditions and available resources – in its development and use. Through this evidentiary reconstruction, it will be shown that, though these rafts appeared primitive to many of the Europeans who saw and wrote about them, the aboriginal balsas of the Andean coast were both well-designed and extraordinarily capable of performing their assigned tasks, which included fishing and coastal trade, and which may also have included lengthy voyages of commerce and exploration.
Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
Egypt, the 'Sea Peoples,' and the Brailed Sail: Technological Transference in the Early Ramesside Period? In
American Schools of Oriental Research Annual Meeting . Chicago, IL.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractThe appearance of the brailed rig and loose-footed sail at the end of the Late Bronze Age revolutionized seafaring in the eastern Mediterranean. In the first visual representation of a naval battle in the Egyptian records, the battle at Medinet Habu, both Egyptian and ‘Sea Peoples’ ships are portrayed as employing this new rig on warships which are nearly identical in structure and design. This fact suggests some level of previous contact between the invading mariners and those responsible for designing and constructing Egypt’s ships of war. This paper examines the evidence for the development of the brailed rig in the eastern Mediterranean, and explores the possibility that the Šrdn of the Sea, one of the ‘Sea Peoples’ who appeared in “battleships in the midst of the sea” off of the Egyptian coast a century earlier, may have played an integral role in the transference of that technology to the Egyptians.
Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
Give them a 'Hand': An Archaeo-Literary Study of Toilet Practices at Khirbet Qumran and their Implications. In
Society of Biblical Literature 2012 International Meeting . Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractThe association of the Essenes with the site of Qumran, and the specific instructions regarding latrine placement and etiquette in the Temple and War Scrolls, combine to make the toilet practices of the Qumran community an issue with a direct relation to the study of the site and of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The texts most often associated with toilet practices at Qumran present accounts and instructions which are incompatible with each other, while the presence of a cesspit toilet in Locus 51 of Qumran contradicts each of these texts. Further, the difficulties presented by this toilet’s presence are increased by its being taken out of use at the end of Period Ib of the site (31 BC), after which it appears not to have been replaced – a development which suggests either a significant change in Qumranites’ beliefs after 31 BC, or a change in the makeup of the community’s inhabitants themselves. Finally, the combination of the material evidence regarding toilet practices at Khirbet Qumran, the contradictions in the literary sources thought to address them, and scholarly attempts to rationalize or circumvent these contradictions should serve to reinforce the importance of proper methodology and evidence-based analysis to the current and future study of Qumran, its inhabitants, and their connection to the Scrolls.
Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
Race in Armor, Race with Shields: The Origin and Devolution of the Hoplitodromos. In
University of Pennsylvania Center for Ancient Studies Conference "Crowned Victor: Competition and Games in the Ancient World" . Philadelphia, PA.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractCompetition and combat have a historic tension in Greek myth and culture. Though the origination of athletics in ancient Greece may not have been martial, several literary examples from the classical Greek through imperial Roman periods make clear that a belief in an inextricable, etiological link between combat and athletic competition was widespread among ancient authors and observers. The hoplitodromos, or race in armor, is a representative example both of this etiological belief and of the evolution of Greek athletics over time. As the growing prevalence of hoplite warfare reduced the opportunity for warriors to earn kleos aphthitōn on the battlefield, athletic competitions became a partial replacement for the lost opportunities to achieve eternal glory. Further, the rise of a classical “gymnasion culture,” which valued physical beauty, youth, and eroticism most highly, may have sparked a pushback on the part of our ancient sources, who sought in return to emphasize all the more the martial practicality of athletic training and competitive events.
Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
'Šrdn of the Sea': A Reassessment of the Sherden and their Role in Egyptian Society. In
Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting . Philadelphia, PA.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractThe association of the Sherden with their fellow “Sea Peoples,” the more well-known and better-attested Philistines, has led to several assumptions about this group, its members’ origin, and their role in the events that marked the end of the Late Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age. Despite a broad temporal presence in ancient Near Eastern records, there exists limited information about who these Sherden were and where they came from, the circumstances of their entry into the Egyptian and Ugaritic records in which they appear, and where they eventually settled. Further, addressing these questions in traditional fashion relies on the assumption that they were a homogeneous ethnic group with a single shared culture, point of origin, and geographic destination. This study separates the Sherden from the Aegean migration and greater “Sea Peoples” phenomenon of the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age transition in an effort to challenge long-held assumptions about their initial encounter with Ramesses II in the early years of his rule, their role in the famous land battle and naumachia of Ramesses III’s eighth year, their participation in the migrations that marked the end of the Late Bronze Age, and their status as foreigners to the Levant whose main function was to serve as mercenary soldiers and pirates. Through a close reading of the extant material and literary evidence from the Amarna and Ramesside periods in Egypt, and with support from relevant Ugaritic texts, the role of the Sherden within broader Near Eastern society in general, and amesside Egypt in particular, is shown to be very different from that of the more famous Philistines: one of initial, small-scale intrusion of heterogeneous warriors who originated elsewhere within the eastern Mediterranean world, followed by relative geographic stability over multigenerational periods that was marked by rapid and enduring acculturation and assimilation into Egyptian society.
Emanuel, J. P. (2012).
'Šrdn of the Strongholds, Šrdn of the Sea': The Sherden in Egyptian Society, Reassessed. In
63rd Annual Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt . Providence, RI.
Click Here to DownloadAbstractDespite a broad temporal presence in Egyptian records, the association of the Sherden with another ‘Sea Peoples’ group, the more well-known and better archaeologically attested Philistines, has led to several assumptions about this group, its members’ origin, and their role both in the events that marked the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age and in Egyptian society as a whole. This study separates the Sherden from the Aegean migration and greater ‘Sea Peoples’ phenomenon of the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age transition in an effort to challenge long-held assumptions about their initial encounter with Ramesses II in the early years of his rule, their role in the famous land battle and naumachia of Ramesses III’s eighth year, their participation in the migrations that marked the end of the Late Bronze Age, and their status as foreigners to the Levant whose main function was to serve as mercenary soldiers and pirates. Through a close reading of the extant literary and pictorial evidence from the New Kingdom and beyond, this paper traces the role of the Sherden within Egyptian society from its adversarial origin, through a phase of combined military cooperation and social exclusion, to a final, multigenerational period that was marked by rapid and enduring acculturation and assimilation into Egyptian society.