Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GALATEO (GALATEO (Good Attitudes for Life in Assyrian Times: Etiquette and Observance of Norms in Male and Female Groups))
Reporting period: 2021-06-01 to 2023-05-31
The GALATEO (Good Attitudes for Life in Assyrian Times: Etiquette and Observance of Norms in Male and Female Groups) project aims to understand anew the importance of etiquette in late Assyrian society (10th–7th century BCE) and to investigate through a multidisciplinary approach the extent to which etiquette influenced the subsequent cultures of the Middle East. In Middle Eastern studies, this is an unexplored field of research and its investigation is shedding new light on how etiquette played a fundamental role in Assyria, and in Middle Eastern societies more in general, in regulating the interactions between men, women, eunuchs, and deities. In this regard, the main issues being addressed are 1) understanding the way that correct behavior in Assyrian society was codified and imposed during meetings, and 2) how etiquette became a means for both men and women to display their social status and gender. The first aspect is being approached from a sociological perspective, in order to study gestures, postures, proxemic interactions, choice of language, and table manners; the second aspect is being examined from an anthropological perspective, in order to analyse the etiquette of hygiene. The latter approach, in particular, is emphasizing the extent to which hygiene plays a role in assigning order and integrity to a culture or group.
The study of manners and etiquette being carried out so far reveals how changes in the interactions between individuals, and especially in the ways in which people act, are and feel themselves to be, were linked to profound social and political changes. In other words, the process of changing power is the motor of changes in experience, ways of behaving and relating to others. In this sense, the project helps us to appreciate and understand that the study of manners and etiquette is not a trivial, formal, or mechanical study of formalities and the external trappings of life, but rather a means of illuminating social changes as well as the relations between individuals and groups, especially of different sexes. This aspect is of great importance for society because it deals with societal resilience, insofar as it aims at identifying and investigating the solutions developed by Assyrian society and later Middle Eastern cultures to face social issues, from identity preservation to natural disasters. These solutions can be compared diachronically to understand how human behavior adapts to changes throughout history.
In practical terms, the research examines all types of available evidence, including archaeological, visual, and written sources. The chief research objectives are:
1) the development of an adaptable sociological and anthropological theoretical model for the study of etiquette in the ancient Middle East,
2) the publication of a research monograph,
3) the creation of an open source Atlas. In detail, the Atlas is conceived as an open repository, in which the addition of new references to delineate the manners of a given culture can contribute to the understanding of etiquette, from the ancient to the modern Middle East.
The study of manners and etiquette being carried out so far reveals how changes in the interactions between individuals, and especially in the ways in which people act, are and feel themselves to be, were linked to profound social and political changes. In other words, the process of changing power is the motor of changes in experience, ways of behaving and relating to others. In this sense, the project helps us to appreciate and understand that the study of manners and etiquette is not a trivial, formal, or mechanical study of formalities and the external trappings of life, but rather a means of illuminating social changes as well as the relations between individuals and groups, especially of different sexes. This aspect is of great importance for society because it deals with societal resilience, insofar as it aims at identifying and investigating the solutions developed by Assyrian society and later Middle Eastern cultures to face social issues, from identity preservation to natural disasters. These solutions can be compared diachronically to understand how human behavior adapts to changes throughout history.
In practical terms, the research examines all types of available evidence, including archaeological, visual, and written sources. The chief research objectives are:
1) the development of an adaptable sociological and anthropological theoretical model for the study of etiquette in the ancient Middle East,
2) the publication of a research monograph,
3) the creation of an open source Atlas. In detail, the Atlas is conceived as an open repository, in which the addition of new references to delineate the manners of a given culture can contribute to the understanding of etiquette, from the ancient to the modern Middle East.
The first three months were spent at the Università degli Studi di Messina (UniMe) to carry out the Career Development Plan. The remaining 21 months at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) were mostly focused on the collection and analysis of textual and archaeological sources with the aim of a) offering a definition of etiquette in the ancient Middle East, b) understanding the extent to which etiquette was gendered, c) reconstructing hygiene practices. The research activity and any result were disseminated and discussed monthly at interdepartmental meetings with the supervisor, Prof. Holly Pittman, and several scholars working at UPenn and at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of Philadelphia (Penn Museum).
Results presented at these meetings were later submitted as talks at conferences, workshops, and webinars, and then turned into publishable articles submitted to open access peer-reviewed journals. Also, a workshop was organized within the the ASOR – American Society of Overseas Research (October/November 2022). The proceedings of the workshop were accepted for publication by the series Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. In addition, a monograph on "Manners and Etiquette in Ancient Mesopotamia" is currently in progress.
Results were communicated to a non-specialist audience through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and, especially, an exhibition organized at the Penn Museum, entitled “Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life”. The exhibit was opened on March 2, 2023 and will be on view up to March 2025. To better communicate the results of the GALATEO project, the animation videos of two artefacts included in the exhibit were made in cooperation with Steve K. Simons, animator and computer expert (Panoply Vase Animation Project). The animated artefacts were an ivory plaque showing a royal banquet with the Assyrian king and a register of the famous Ur-Namu stele. In conjunction with the exhibition, a talk was held during the exhibit opening, and a course addressed to Bachelor, Master and Doctoral students was taught at the Department of History of Art together with Prof. Holly Pittman. The course was entitled: "Courtly Life in Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Mediterranean".
Results presented at these meetings were later submitted as talks at conferences, workshops, and webinars, and then turned into publishable articles submitted to open access peer-reviewed journals. Also, a workshop was organized within the the ASOR – American Society of Overseas Research (October/November 2022). The proceedings of the workshop were accepted for publication by the series Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. In addition, a monograph on "Manners and Etiquette in Ancient Mesopotamia" is currently in progress.
Results were communicated to a non-specialist audience through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and, especially, an exhibition organized at the Penn Museum, entitled “Manners and Etiquette in Mesopotamian Life”. The exhibit was opened on March 2, 2023 and will be on view up to March 2025. To better communicate the results of the GALATEO project, the animation videos of two artefacts included in the exhibit were made in cooperation with Steve K. Simons, animator and computer expert (Panoply Vase Animation Project). The animated artefacts were an ivory plaque showing a royal banquet with the Assyrian king and a register of the famous Ur-Namu stele. In conjunction with the exhibition, a talk was held during the exhibit opening, and a course addressed to Bachelor, Master and Doctoral students was taught at the Department of History of Art together with Prof. Holly Pittman. The course was entitled: "Courtly Life in Mesopotamia, Persia, and the Mediterranean".
Previous studies have given very little consideration to manners and etiquette in the ancient Middle East. The research carried out so far has raised awareness in US scholars and people on the importance of etiquette and filled these gaps by achieving the following main results:
1) The customs and proprieties of conduct may reflect fundamental shifts in the way that humans behaved and felt, and they may have been strictly linked to changes in the forms of authority.
2) The interactions between individuals can help to provide a better understanding of the interplay between gender, class, and status. In the specific case of the Assyrian Empire, it is assumed that interactions between men and women were regulated by a role-related rather than a gender-related etiquette
3) Nonverbal expressions were used to convey a group identity.
4) A definition of etiquette. Etiquette can be part of rituals, but it must be distinguished from rituals. In the Ancient Middle East, etiquette is a set of conventions regulating interactions between individuals. These conventions regulate external physical behavior (body movement, clothing, speech) and are the outward expression of fear of someone. Etiquette has a mere utilitarian aim, that is receiving a favor, material or immaterial.
The expected results to be achieved in the last year of the project include a more careful understanding of 1) the relationships between etiquette, hygiene practices and diseases, and 2) the ways through which forms of Assyrian etiquette survived throughout the Middle Eastern history. These results will raise awareness in European individuals on the importance and longevity of certain manners and will be used to inform about the historical reasons which underlie the manners and etiquette of current migrants coming from Middle East countries, and to stimulate the youngest to explore their countries’ costume and history through university studies.
1) The customs and proprieties of conduct may reflect fundamental shifts in the way that humans behaved and felt, and they may have been strictly linked to changes in the forms of authority.
2) The interactions between individuals can help to provide a better understanding of the interplay between gender, class, and status. In the specific case of the Assyrian Empire, it is assumed that interactions between men and women were regulated by a role-related rather than a gender-related etiquette
3) Nonverbal expressions were used to convey a group identity.
4) A definition of etiquette. Etiquette can be part of rituals, but it must be distinguished from rituals. In the Ancient Middle East, etiquette is a set of conventions regulating interactions between individuals. These conventions regulate external physical behavior (body movement, clothing, speech) and are the outward expression of fear of someone. Etiquette has a mere utilitarian aim, that is receiving a favor, material or immaterial.
The expected results to be achieved in the last year of the project include a more careful understanding of 1) the relationships between etiquette, hygiene practices and diseases, and 2) the ways through which forms of Assyrian etiquette survived throughout the Middle Eastern history. These results will raise awareness in European individuals on the importance and longevity of certain manners and will be used to inform about the historical reasons which underlie the manners and etiquette of current migrants coming from Middle East countries, and to stimulate the youngest to explore their countries’ costume and history through university studies.