Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of EmpiresA free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s new open access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. What is the role of the material world in shaping the tensions and paradoxes of imperial sovereignty? Scholars have long shed light on the complex processes of conquest, extraction, and colonialism under imperial rule. But imperialism has usually been cast as an exclusively human drama, one in which the world of matter does not play an active role. Lori Khatchadourian argues instead that things—from everyday objects to monumental buildings—profoundly shape social and political life under empire. Out of the archaeology of ancient Persia and the South Caucasus, Imperial Matter advances powerful new analytical approaches to the study of imperialism writ large and should be read by scholars working on empire across the humanities and social sciences. |
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Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires Lori Khatchadourian Limited preview - 2016 |
Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires Lori Khatchadourian Limited preview - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
Achaemenid Empire affiliates Ahuramazda Altıntepe amphorae analysis ancient Persia Apadana ArAGATS archaeology archaeology of empire architectural Armenia Armenian highland artifacts assemblage Avestan Boucharlat Bounteous Immortals bowls building built captives Caucasus century b.c. ceramic chapter colonial columned hall complex concepts courtesy of Project cultural D’Altroy dahyu Darius economy efforts emerge empire’s entailed entanglements Erebuni evidence excavations figure fortress Godin Tepe Gopnik heartland highland humans and things imperial agents imperial formations Imperial Matter imperial projects imperial sovereignty imperial things Inca inscription Iran Karačamirli king Kura River Lake Sevan landscapes Latour Lincoln Medes mediators metal millennium b.c. mountain nonhuman Nush-i Jan objects Pasargadae Persian possible practices Precinct production Project ArAGATS region relations reproduction rhyta rhyton rial Roman Room G Root royal satrapal condition sense settlement silver vessels social sociopolitical sovereign spaces spatial Stoler stone Stronach suggest Susa Tepe Nush-i Jan tion Tsaghkahovit Urartian Urartu xšaça zoomorphic Zoroastrian