Postdoctoral position for the study of slaves
Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS), Rethymno, Crete
The research project 'SLaVEgents: Enslaved persons in the making of societies and cultures across Western Eurasia and North AFrica, 1000 BCE - 300 CE', funded by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council, is advertising a postdoctoral position for the study of slaves through papyrological sources in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Latin.
SLaVEgents is an ambitious project focused on slave agency; it aims to explore how enslaved persons in antiquity actively shaped the societies they lived in. It will examine the multiple identities of enslaved persons, the communities and networks that they created or participated in, and how slave agency brought about major political, social, economic and cultural changes in the ancient world. By exploring the various forms of slave agency, SLaVEgents will offer a radically new perspective on antiquity from the point of view of history from below.
The project moves beyond the usual focus on slavery in classical Greece and Roman Italy to offer a comprehensive examination of the history of enslaved persons across Western Eurasia and North Africa between 1000 BCE and 300 CE. SLaVEgents is the first project to examine together all ancient slaveries from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic, and include sources in the full range of ancient languages (Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Egyptian, Greek, Latin) and the relevant archaeological data. The research team will construct a large-scale digital prosopography of all attested ancient slaves which will include all relevant sources in the original and in English translation.
The project started in October 2023 and will run till September 2028, under the direction of the PI, Dr Kostas Vlassopoulos, professor in ancient history at the University of Crete. SLaVEgents is hosted by the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) at Rethymno, Crete. IMS is part of the Foundation for Research and Technology, the largest Greek research institution, and has hosted nine ERC projects since 2017.
The following position will be formally advertised shortly (middle January 2025):
a) One postdoctoral position for 12 months, with possibility of further renewal. The postdoctoral researcher will work in the field of Egyptian slavery, and s/he will have the necessary linguistic skills in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Latin. Skills and experience in papyrology are essential. Successful applicants will take part in the collection of Egyptian, Greek and Latin papyrological sources for the digital prosopography and in the translation of the relevant passages in English. They will also participate in the conferences and edited volumes of the project. Applicants should have a PhD on a topic related to Egyptian slavery.
Interested scholars should contact professor Vlassopoulos for confidential queries and further information (Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein. <mailto:Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein. >).
The research project 'SLaVEgents: Enslaved persons in the making of societies and cultures across Western Eurasia and North AFrica, 1000 BCE - 300 CE', funded by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council, is advertising a postdoctoral position for the study of slaves through papyrological sources in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Latin.
SLaVEgents is an ambitious project focused on slave agency; it aims to explore how enslaved persons in antiquity actively shaped the societies they lived in. It will examine the multiple identities of enslaved persons, the communities and networks that they created or participated in, and how slave agency brought about major political, social, economic and cultural changes in the ancient world. By exploring the various forms of slave agency, SLaVEgents will offer a radically new perspective on antiquity from the point of view of history from below.
The project moves beyond the usual focus on slavery in classical Greece and Roman Italy to offer a comprehensive examination of the history of enslaved persons across Western Eurasia and North Africa between 1000 BCE and 300 CE. SLaVEgents is the first project to examine together all ancient slaveries from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic, and include sources in the full range of ancient languages (Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Egyptian, Greek, Latin) and the relevant archaeological data. The research team will construct a large-scale digital prosopography of all attested ancient slaves which will include all relevant sources in the original and in English translation.
The project started in October 2023 and will run till September 2028, under the direction of the PI, Dr Kostas Vlassopoulos, professor in ancient history at the University of Crete. SLaVEgents is hosted by the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) at Rethymno, Crete. IMS is part of the Foundation for Research and Technology, the largest Greek research institution, and has hosted nine ERC projects since 2017.
The following position will be formally advertised shortly (middle January 2025):
a) One postdoctoral position for 12 months, with possibility of further renewal. The postdoctoral researcher will work in the field of Egyptian slavery, and s/he will have the necessary linguistic skills in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Latin. Skills and experience in papyrology are essential. Successful applicants will take part in the collection of Egyptian, Greek and Latin papyrological sources for the digital prosopography and in the translation of the relevant passages in English. They will also participate in the conferences and edited volumes of the project. Applicants should have a PhD on a topic related to Egyptian slavery.
Interested scholars should contact professor Vlassopoulos for confidential queries and further information (