Research programme
Ancient Worlds network
The Ancient Worlds Network brings together staff and graduate students in LIAS working on the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world.
- Contact
- Miriam Müller
The Ancient Worlds Network brings together staff and graduate students in LIAS working on the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world. Our expertise covers a wide range of areas and disciplines, including the study of Ancient Arabia, Assyriology, Coptic Studies, Egyptology, Hebrew and Aramaic Studies, ancient Iranian Studies, Papyrology, linguistics, the study of religions, and the history of philosophy and science. The aim of the network is threefold. First, we want to stimulate scientific debate and synergy among faculty and graduate students engaged in the study of the ancient world at LIAS. To this aim we regularly organize discussion sessions on "Current Debates" in our respective fields. Second, we aim to reflect on current and future challenges to our various academic fields and to propose strategies for improving our resilience and versatility. Third, we will contribute to improving facilities for graduate training in ancient world studies at LIAS through a "Teaching Lab", designed and implemented to facilitate graduate teaching training.
Lecture Series Ancient Worlds Lunch Talks
Lecture Series: Ancient Worlds Lunch Talks
Fall semester 2025: every other Monday 13:00-14:00 - free pizza and everyone is welcome to bring lunch.
This will be an opportunity to exchange ideas and latest research in an informal atmosphere with a small audience of MA and PhD students, Postdocs and Faculty of the ONOS and CAC program and all interested students and colleagues of Classics, History and Archaeology.
List of speakers and schedule:
September 22nd, 2025: Dreams without Borders? New Perspectives on Oneirocritica from Babylon to Artemidor – Elyze Zomer (Lecturer in Assyriology, University of Tübingen/BiOr Editor)
13:00-14:00, Herta Mohr, KITLV Seminar Room 1.30 (1st floor)
October 6th, 2025: A Flour(ishing) Business? Milling and Flour from the New Kingdom through the Graeco-Roman Period in Egypt – Daan Smets (PhD Candidate in Ancient History, Leuven University/AGROS project)
13:00-14:00, Herta Mohr, KITLV Seminar Room 1.30 (1st floor)
October 20th, 2025: The Geographical Scope of Ebla Administration – Elisabetta Cianfanelli (Postdoc in Assyriology, University of Florence/NINO Visiting Fellow)
13:00-14:00, Herta Mohr, KITLV Seminar Room 1.30 (1st floor)
November 3rd, 2025: Picturing the Past: the NINO Ahnengalerie as Institutional Memory – Koen Klein (MA Candidate in Ancient History/NINO Office Assistant)
13:00-14:00, IIAS Conference Room, Herta Mohr building 0.28
November 17th, 2025: From Dusty to Digital Data: Digitization of the Tell Hammam al-Turkman Excavation Archive – Ruben Hartman (MA Candidate in Archaeology/NINO Student Research Assistant 2024)
13:00-14:00, Herta Mohr, KITLV Seminar Room 1.30 (1st floor)
Forum Antiquum & Ancient Worlds Network lecture
November 27th, 2025: An Anthropology of the Material World: Rethinking Nature, Knowledge, and Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia – Shiyanthi Thavapalan (Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/BiOr editor)
15:30-17:00, Lipsius 0.28 with following reception
December 1st, 2025: (Re-)conceptualizing Dutch Collections of Ancient Egyptian Human Remains – Pansee Abou ElAtta (Postdoc Carleton University/NINO Visiting Fellow)
13:00-14:00, Herta Mohr, KITLV Seminar Room 1.30 (1st floor