Members’ Lecture
Allison Thomason, Southern Illinois University

The large-scale monumental reliefs, from the palaces of the Neo-Assyrian kings at Nimrud, Khorsabad and Nineveh have received a great deal of attention in archaeological and art historical studies. My current research and the lecture that I will present explores the small-scale items—the movable property of the palace that would have peppered the daily experiences of the Assyrian court. I want to bring alive for the audience the glint of a gold arm-cuff, the flow of a woven red robe splaying across a mud brick floor, the clang of bronze cups as they are clamped down on an ebony table decorated with ivory carvings. All of these things are relatively scarce yet nevertheless present in the archaeological record, obsessed over in administrative documents and trumpeted proudly as tribute and plunder in Assyrian wall reliefs and royal inscriptions.

Presented by Dr. Allison Thomason of Southern Illinois University. Co-sponsored by Archaeological Institute of America Free, Open to the Public, Reception to follow For further inquiries or to RSVP, please contact the Membership Office at 773-834-9777