Roman Palestine, Cultural Interactions and Archaeological Contexts in the Ancient Mediterranean: Architecture and Numismatic Representations in the Samaria.

Abstract

This postdoctoral project aims to investigate the archaeological contexts integrated with the multiple intercultural, social, religious and economic processes concerning the province of Palestine during the Roman period (I BCE - II CE), more precisely, the region of Samaria. The general goal connects to studies related to recent debates about the Ancient Mediterranean and cultural and symbolic negotiations between Rome and local populations. In this way, the project is divided into three stages that complement each other: 1) It aims to analyze and catalog the bibliographic material referring to Samaria and Ancient Palestine and the occupation of the Romans in the region, in addition to the opening within the scope of LARP - Laboratory of Archeology of Provincial Rome -, under the supervision of Professor Vagner Carvalheiro Porto, a line of research related to the region, aiming at future research and the expansion and coalition of projects related to the Roman provinces in the Ancient Mediterranean. In this way, through the survey of archaeological/numismatic data made available in the excavation reports concerning Samaria, Roman Palestine and the Ancient Mediterranean and in the available bibliography, it will be enhanced to feed the LARP databases. 2) Internship and training at the University of Bristol, England, under the international supervision of Professor Tamar Hodos, specialist in Archeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, Ancient Palestine and studies concerning cultural contacts in the Mediterranean and the Levant region, having books and various publications on the themes, in addition to extensive empirical field experience. One of the goals of this postdoctoral internship is to access specific bibliography concerning the archaeological discipline, excavation reports, textual sources and specific documentation on the themes: Roman Samaria, Roman Palestine, Ancient Mediterranean and Roman and Israel Archaeology. In this way, internationalization will also be one of the guiding threads of this research, focusing on the problems and production of knowledge related to the geographic portions and populations that make up what is conventionally named as Roman Palestine, as well as its insertion in the social, economic, and social macrocosm. Mediterranean religious and cultural heritage. 3) A fundamental part of this project will be the carrying out of excavations in Tel Dor, Israel, under the supervision of Professor Vagner Carvalheiro Porto, inserted in the scope of the Project already in progress "Cultural Contacts in Judaea-Palaestina of the Roman Period: Studies of the Urban Network and the Monetary Circulation in Tel Dor, Israel", coordinated by Professor Porto and sponsored by FAPESP (Process: 2020/16698-0), in the hope of expanding understanding of the urban organization of Roman times. It is important to point out that Professor Tamar Hodos is also part of this project, coordinated by Professor Vagner Carvalheiro Porto. Considering that the Brazilian participation in Tel Dor takes place in an effective scientific partnership, directly interfering in the planning and carrying out of the excavations, as well as in the general destinations of the project, from the beginning, the development of related partnerships is increasingly sought to the archaeological exploration and urbanistic interpretation of the Roman city in the light of numismatic analyzes in the context of cultural contacts and the processes of transformation of the Mediterranean in the Roman period, as well as the compatibility with the methodologies employed in the research. This project is of great interest, above all, the scientific development related to the background themes of the Provincial Roman Archeology Laboratory (LARP).