Egypt beyond representation

The 35th volume of the ASLU series develops and applies a new approach to study Aegyptiaca Romana from a bottom-up, Roman perspective. Current approaches to these objects are often still plagued by top-down projections of modern definitions and understandings of Egypt and Egyptian material culture onto the Roman world. 'Egypt beyond representation' instead argues that these artefacts should be studied in their own right, without reducing them from the onset to fixed (Egyptian) meanings. Starting from a novel focus on the materials and materiality of a selection of stone Aegyptiaca from Rome, and by combining archaeological and archaeometric perspectives, this study shows that, while 'Egyptianness' may have been among Roman associations, these objects were able to do much more than merely representing notions of Egypt.

Sander Müskens is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Leiden University.