Apr. 1, 2014
LIBRARY RESEARCH FELLOW PRESENTATION
"Excavations at Amorium, a Byzantine Provincial Capital in Asia Minor, and the Rise
and Collapse
of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor (800-1050 C.E.)"
The Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection invites you to join us for a lecture by 2013-2014
Library Research Fellow
Nikos Tsivikis, Institute for Mediterranean Studies (FORTH), Greece.
Summary:
"The Byzantine city of Amorium (near the modern city of Afyon Karahisar in Turkey)
was the provincial capital of the thema of Anatolikonsince the 8th century C.E. and one of
the most important medieval cities in all of Asia Minor. For centuries it figured in the
forefront of the wars against the Arabs initially and the Seldjuk Turks thereafter for the
control of the East, and as a frontier city it was destined to play a dramatic role in
these events. The excavations at the Middle Byzantine thematic capital of Amorion in
central Asia Minor have been lucky enough to locate archaeological evidence of one of the
most important 'destruction layers' currently under investigation, connected
with the sack of the city in the summer of 838 C.E. by the Arabs, led by the Abbasid
caliph al-Mu‛tasim. Recent systematic work at the site has given us the opportunity to
locate a second phase of the city’s dramatic history, which corresponds to large scale
historical events. Almost two centuries after the Arab sack the city had again come to
prosper, then in the middle of the 11th century it was abruptly and under less known
conditions abandoned in the wake of the coming of the new masters of Asia Minor, the
Seljuk Turks. The lecture will offer a comprehensive overview of the life and death of a
major Byzantine city, and raise the questions of how we understand the collapse of
Byzantine rule in Asia Minor."
Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2014
Senator Nicholas Petris Room, Library 3023 (3rd floor)
Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, University Library
Schedule of Events:
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. presentation and discussion
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. light refreshments
The presentation and refreshments are free and open to the public. Funding for the Library
Research Fellowship Program has been made possible by a generous grant from the Elios
Charitable Foundation.
Print out a parking permit (PDF document) to use for the evening at
http://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos/news.asp.
For further information, contact George I. Paganelis at (916) 278-4361 or
paganelis@csus.edu<mailto:paganelis@csus.edu>.
-----------------------
George I. Paganelis
Curator, Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection
University Library
California State University, Sacramento
2000 State University Drive
Sacramento, CA 95819-6039
Ph: (916) 278-4361 * Fax: (916) 278-5917
paganelis@csus.edu<mailto:paganelis@csus.edu>
http://www.library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos