Phlamoudhi (probably named after flower of the lime
tree) is a village on the north coast of Cyprus. Excavations
there
in the early 1970s by Edith Porada of Columbia University
focused on two localities in the town, Vounari (conical
hill)
and Melissa (honey bee). Vounari was published in 1983 by
Selma M. S. Al-Radi. Melissa, a contemporary site of the
late
Middle through Late Bronze Ages (ca. 1700–1200 BC),
remains unpublished and is the current focus of research.
Melissa is in many ways a "missing link" between
cultures in southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, and Cyprus.
Cyprus is most often viewed in terms of coastal sites on the
southern and eastern coasts of the island. Work at inland
sites over the last twenty-five years has increased our knowledge
of how people there worked with towns on the coast to retrieve,
work, and export the rich copper resources of the Troodos
mountain range. Phlamoudhi differs from this pattern of site
interaction, its location north of the Kyrenia range separating
it from the copper resources in the center of the island.
Most finds from Phlamoudhi are fragments of ceramic vessels,
many of which were brought to Columbia during the course of
the site’s excavation. Several of the approximately
25,000 sherds represent wares manufactured on Cyprus that
are common across the island, such as White Slip, Base-ring,
and Plain White. Mycenaean wares, also common across Cyprus,
are also present. The majority of sherds, however, are of
a more unusual ware called Red-on-Black, the presence of which
suggests that Phlamoudhi’s points of contact were strongest
along the north coast of Cyprus and with regions north and
east of the island. Given that most research in terms of Cyprus’
interconnections in the Eastern Mediterranean have focused
on contacts with Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece, the central
and southern Levant, and Egypt, the finds at Phlamoudhi offer
an exciting new view into the nature of interconnections in
the Eastern Mediterranean.
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The oases of southern Egypt's Sahara Desert have been the
source of some of the most exciting discoveries in Egyptian
archaeology. Now Columbia University is opening a multidisciplinary
project to excavate Amheida and survey its surroundings.
Amheida is unique in both covering a great time span—from
the third millennium BCE Old Kingdom to the sixth century
early Christian period—and at the
same time being undamaged, previously unexcavated, and of
significant size. We intend to make Amheida the best-documented
Egyptian excavation online and to use the excavation's web
site as the key to a large array of Egyptological material
in electronic form.
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The former church of Hagia Sophia at Vize in Turkish Thrace occupies an important,
if somewhat ambiguous position in the history of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture.
Featuring a basilican plan that terminates in three polygonal apses, an imposing
central dome, a western narthex, and galleries that stretch the entire length
of the building above the side aisles as well as the narthex, the church follows
a type frequently characterized as either an extended cross-domed church or
a 'compact domed basilica.' As such, the church at Vize (ancient Biziye) features
a building type commonly associated with the so-called 'dark centuries' in the
history of Byzantine architecture, stretching from the early seventh through
the late ninth centuries. Co-organized by Columbia University's Department of
Art History and Archaeology and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in
Istanbul, a thorough archaeological exploration, documentation and analysis
of this building will not only provide an important contribution to the study
of Byzantine architecture during the so-called 'dark centuries', but will help
to raise awareness for the preservation of a structure that is in immediate
danger of collapse and destruction.
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he Hadhramaut Valley of eastern Yemen, where Tarim is located, has been linked to the Indian Ocean Basin for most of its history through dense social and economic networks. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Yemeni movements between South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the rest of the Middle East intensified with this first wave of globalization. Some Hadhramis abroad were simple laborers, others traveled to academic centers in pursuit of knowledge and would later serve as judges and educators for Yemeni expatriate communities. Particular families became extremely wealthy through their land holdings abroad and international trading companies. The al-Kaf family, for one, was second only to the city port as the largest property owner and taxpayer in Singapore at the turn of the last century. A cosmopolitanism arose from these interactions, mixing the modern and traditional across every avenue of cultural life. It is still common for Hadhramis to seek opportunities abroad.
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