The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion

The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion
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Audio resources from The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion at The Open University. Find out more at www.openmaterialreligion.org

Episodes

  1. Votive finds from San Casciano dei Bagni – a conversation with Dr Jacopo Tabolli

    10/08/2025

    Votive finds from San Casciano dei Bagni – a conversation with Dr Jacopo Tabolli

    On the eve of our postgraduate workshop in ancient material religion and public lecture about the votive finds from San Casciano dei Bagni, we are delighted to share the recording of a conversation with our visiting speaker Dr Jacopo Tabolli. Tune in to hear about the latest excavations at the Etrusco-Roman thermo-mineral site of Bagno Grande at San Casciano dei Bagni – and some of the astonishing votive objects and inscriptions that have been discovered there.

    28 min
  2. Digital Mimicry and the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii

    09/24/2025

    Digital Mimicry and the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii

    Marisa Müsing visited the Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion at The Open University on 10th June 2025 to give a paper entitled ‘digital mimicry and the villa of mysteries’. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Marisa Müsing were joined by Dr Emma-Jayne Graham and Dr Joanna Paul to record an audio discussion about the Villa of the Mysteries and the relationship between contemporary art and Roman archaeology.

    53 min
  3. Amulets in Ancient Rome and Beyond

    02/25/2025

    Amulets in Ancient Rome and Beyond

    Patricia Kret visited the Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion at The Open University on 24th February 2025 to give a paper entitled ‘Reuse in the creation and use of Greco-Roman amulets’. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Patricia Kret were joined by Emma-Jayne Graham and Barbara Roberts to record an audio discussion about amulets in the ancient Roman world. The discussion also features the voice of Dr Robert Wallis, talking about his recent research on some ‘amuletic’ objects from an Anglo-Saxon burial site in Alfriston, England.

    28 min
  4. Divine Saving

    12/17/2019

    Divine Saving

    Dr Theodora Jim visited the The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on the 21st November 2019, to give a paper entitled “Divine Saving and ‘Votive’ Religion in Ancient Greece”. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Theodora Jim were joined by John Maiden and Emma-Jayne Graham to record an audio discussion about understandings of divine saving in antiquity and beyond. The discussion also features the voice of Dr Sara Patterson, on Salvation Mountain in California. Programme structure and timecodes: 0.00 Introduction. 0.43 Theodora Jim on the challenges of translating 'soteria', and the evidence for cults of 'saviour gods' in ancient Greece. 6.20 Emma-Jayne Graham on votive offerings from early Roman Italy, and their possible links to understandings of divine saving. 12.25 John Maiden on divine saving in Christianity, including the textual traditions of the Old and New Testaments, and the practice of dedicating ex-votos in Mexico. 19.50 Sara Patterson on Salvation Mountain. 28.17 Studio responses to Sara Patterson. 34.10 Theodora Jim on a votive relief from the Asklepeieon at Athens. 36.38 Emma-Jayne Graham on the votive 'open torso' busts from early Roman Italy. 38.51 John Maiden on the Exodus narrative.

    40 min
  5. Trees

    11/15/2019

    Trees

    Dr Anna Perdibon visited the The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on the 16th October 2019, to give a paper entitled "Sacred Trees and Tree Persons in Ancient Mesopotamia". After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Anna Perdibon were joined by Graham Harvey and Shirley Elderfield to record an audio discussion about trees, both ancient and modern. The discussion also features the voice of Anne Patterson, on the role of trees in contemporary Druidism. Programme Structure and Timecodes 0.00 Introduction 0.45 Anna Perdibon on ancient Mesopotamian geography, religion and trees 5.22 Shirley Elderfield on the site of Dodona and its sacred oak tree 9.15 Graham Harvey on trees in contemporary paganisms and different indigenous communities 13.13 Anna Perdibon on Gilgamesh and the Cedar Forest 15.52 Anne Patterson on the role of trees in contemporary Druidism 19.54 Studio responses to Anne Patterson 25.40 Graham Harvey on a piece of ancient bog oak from the Somerset Levels 27.04 Shirley Elderfield on the oak tree planted at Dodona in the twentieth century 28.35 Anna Perdibon on the olive trees in Jerusalem, and a nomadic bonsai

    31 min
  6. Mosaics

    07/19/2019

    Mosaics

    Dr Sean Leatherbury visited the The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on 13th June 2019, to give a paper entitled "Materializing the Community in the Late Antique Syrian Church". After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Sean Leatherbury were joined by Dr Janet Huskinson and Dr David Noy to record an audio discussion about ancient mosaics and the artists who made them. The discussion also features the voice of Aidan Hart, who spoke about the techniques and theology underpinning his contemporary mosaic work. Programme structure and timecodes: 0.00 Introduction 0.36 Sean Leatherbury on the mosaics of Roman and Late Antique Syria - and their artists. 4.56 David Noy on the Jewish communities of Roman Syria, and the mosaics from the synagogue at Apamea. 10.22 Janet Huskinson on early Christian mosaics in the city of Rome, including those from the churches of Santa Pudenziana, Santa Sabina, and Santa Maria Maggiore. 17.31 Extract from a conversation with the mosaic artist Aidan Hart. 23.38 Responses to Aidan Hart. 29.50 Janet Huskinson on a fourth-century mosaic from Hinton St Mary. 32.16 David Noy on the mosaic floor from the synagogue at Ostia. 35.44 Sean Leatherbury on a floor mosaic from the nave of the sixth-century church at Huwat in northwestern Syria.

    39 min
  7. Ritual And Gender

    07/04/2019

    Ritual And Gender

    Dr Camilla Norman visited the The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on 13th June 2019, to give a paper entitled “The Ritual Ecology of Archaic South-East Italy”. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Camilla Norman were joined by Professor Phil Perkins and Dr Eleanor Betts to record an audio discussion about ritual and gender in pre-Roman Italy. The discussion also featured the voice of Frances Eley, who spoke about her experiences of performing sacred drama with a women’s group in Kent. Programme structure and timecodes 0.00 Intro 0.36 Camilla Norman on the statue stelae from the south Italian region of Daunia (northern Apulia and north-east Basilicata). 6.41 Phil Perkins on the literary and archaeological evidence for ritual gender in Etruria. 15.50 Camilla Norman and Phil Perkins on the representation of attributes indicating gender, age and social status in Daunia and Etruria. 19.29 Eleanor Betts on Picenum and the cult of the goddess Cubrar Matrer. 24.16 Frances Eley on performing sacred drama with a women's group in the contemporary UK. 29.55 Responses to Frances Eley. 35.16 Phil Perkins on a bronze female figurine from Monte Falterona 40.54 Eleanor Betts on the large bronze rings found in male and female burials in Picenum. 43.35 Camilla Norman on a Daunian matt-painted pot featuring a possible female augur.

    49 min
  8. Walls And Boundaries

    06/10/2019

    Walls And Boundaries

    Professor Michael Scott visited The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on 23rd May 2019, to give a paper entitled “Walls And the Ancient Greek Ritual Experience”. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Michael Scott were joined by Dr Emma-Jayne Graham and Dr Christine Plastow to record an audio discussion about ‘walls and boundaries' in ancient Greece and Italy. The discussion also featured the voice of Professor Kristin Hass, talking about the design of the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington DC. Programme structure and timecodes 0.00 Intro 0.40 Michael Scott on boundaries in Greek sanctuaries, Eleusis and the Mysteries 4.42 Christine Plastow on boundaries and the spaces of Athenian homicide trials 9.57 Emma-Jayne Graham on walls and boundaries in Roman Republican sanctuaries 15.56 Kristin Hass on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 20.38 Studio responses to Kristin Hass 29.02 Michael Scott on the temple of Zeus at Olympia 31.12 Emma-Jayne Graham on the sanctuary of Juno Gabina at Gabii 33.02 Christine Plastow on the Areopagus in Athens Find out more at www.openmaterialreligion.org > Resources

    36 min
  9. Virtual Collections

    05/04/2019

    Virtual Collections

    Dr Jody Cundy visited the The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion on 21st March 2019, to give a paper entitled “Paradoxographic mentalité and the sacred: thinking through (im)material collections in Pausanias' Periegesis Hellados”. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Jody Cundy were joined by Dr Jan Haywood and Dr Angeliki Lymberopoulou to record an audio discussion about ‘virtual collections’ of votives and relics in ancient Greek and later texts. The discussion also featured the voice of Dr Naomi Howell, talking about a different kind of ‘virtual votive’ collection - that is, the 3D digital scans and models of some surviving medieval wax votives in the collections of Exeter Cathedral. Programme structure and timecodes 0.00 Introduction 1.00 Jody Cundy on Pausanias’ descriptions of votive dedications and relics in the temples of Peitho in Sicyon and Athena Elea at Tegea; 3.30 Jan Haywood on Herodotus and the dedications sent by King Croesus to Apollo at Delphi 6.58 Angeliki Lymberopoulou on the Gunther of Pairis’ inventory of sacred relics in the Abbey of Pairis, brought from the Church of Christ Pantokrator in Constantinople 12.50 Naomi Howell on the digitalisation of medieval wax votives from Exeter Cathedral 19.40 Studio responses to Naomi Howell 25.38 Jody Cundy on the Chest of Kypselos 26.41 Angeliki Lymberopoulou on the relic of the table of the Last Supper 28.00 Jan Haywood on a lustral vase from Delphi. Find out more at www.openmaterialreligion.org > Resources

    29 min
  10. Votives, fertility and early infancy

    02/15/2019

    Votives, fertility and early infancy

    The inaugural seminar of The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion took place on 14th February 2019. Professor Maureen Carroll from the University of Sheffield gave a paper entitled ‘‘Mater Matuta and her ‘Sisters’: Exploring Fertility Cults and Associated Votives in Early Roman Religion’. After the seminar, Jessica Hughes and Maureen Carroll were joined by Emma-Jayne Graham and Marion Bowman to record an audio discussion about votives, fertility and early infancy. The discussion also featured the voice of artist Tabitha Moses, talking about her work ‘The Go-Between’. Find out more at: https://www.openmaterialreligion.org/resources-1/2019/2/24/votives Programme structure and time-codes 0.00 Introduction 0.31 Maureen Carroll on fertility cults in ancient Rome, and the tufa models of mothers and babies from Capua 7.50 Marion Bowman on the cult of St Gerard Majella in Newfoundland, materiality and relationality 13.46 Emma-Jayne Graham on swaddled infants and other votives in ancient Italic sanctuaries 19.36 Tabitha Moses on her work ‘The Go Between’ 24.28 Studio responses to Tabitha Moses 30.16 Emma-Jayne Graham on model of swaddled infant from Gravisca 31.27 Marion Bowman on image of St Gerard Majella from the Placentia Bay maternity facility in Newfoundland 33.05 Maureen Carroll on tufa statue of woman from Capua, now in the Villa Giulia museum in Rome. Find out more at www.openmaterialreligion.org > Resources

    36 min
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Audio resources from The Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion at The Open University. Find out more at www.openmaterialreligion.org

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