WELCOME TO THE ASOR BLOG
WELCOME TO THE ASOR BLOGThe American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) is the preeminent society for individuals interested in the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean and the Biblical Lands. This blog is intended to facilitate ASOR’s mission “to initiate, encourage and support research into, and public understanding of, the cultures and history of the Near East from the earliest times.”
Reduced to Her Bare Essentials [PODCAST]
PODCAST
In a recent Friends of ASOR podcast, I called Stephanie Budin, ancient historian with a focus on ancient Greece and the Near East, to talk about her recent Near Eastern Archaeology 79.3 article, “Reduced to Her Bare Essentials: Bronze Age Piriform Pendants in the Levant.”
Budin’s article considers the symbolic meanings of the face, breasts, vulva, and branch images which typify the schematic piriform pendants which first emerged in Tell el-‘Ajjul in the Late Bronze Age and spread through the Levant. In contrast to the usual hypotheses regarding fertility, she suggests that each of these elements refer to the Egyptian goddess Hathor as aspects of her attributes and powers in the Levant under Egyptian domination.
About the Author
Stephanie L. Budin is an ancient historian who focuses on ancient Greece and the Near East. Her published works include Artemis (Routledge, 2015), Images of Woman and Child from the Bronze Age (Cambridge University Press, 2011), The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and The Origin of Aphrodite (CDL Press, 2003), as well as numerous articles on ancient religion and iconography. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and bunnies.
