Edhem Eldem,

(Visiting Professor in History, on Archaeology and Heritage in the Ottoman Lands)

How Local Can You Really Go?

Archaeology In The Ottoman Lands In The Long Nineteenth Century

Friday, February 13, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM

951 Schermerhorn Extension

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Abstract

One of the major challenges faced by historians dealing with the question of archaeology and heritage in the Ottoman lands is to find alternatives to the dominant Western narrative in the hope of bringing forth its local dimension. This can be – and has been – done to some extent by resorting to Ottoman sources, particularly state archives, given that early efforts in that direction were monitored, and sometimes sponsored, by the government and its provincial agents. However, especially after the 1880s, as the Imperial Museum in Constantinople claimed central and exclusive control over this matter throughout the Empire, a new kind of periphery emerged, consisting of local actors engaging in archaeology in a variety of ways, as poachers, traffickers, collectors, amateur epigraphists, or self-styled archaeologists. As such, addressing the issue of the ‘local’ dimension of archaeology in the Ottoman Empire requires navigating through these two layers of hierarchy, to try to uncover the ill-documented margins, an exercise that will be conducted based on a few illustrative cases.

AIA-Westchester Sponsored Annual CCA Lecture Presents:

Sonya Atalay

(Provost Professor, UMass Amherst Department of Anthropology)

“Braiding New Research Worlds: Archaeology, Storywork & Wellbeing”

Friday, April 24, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM

*Location TBA

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Please note that campus is presently closed to non-CU affiliates without a campus access code.