1 BYZANTINE AND MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC BATHS AND THEIR USE

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BYZANTINE AND MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC BATHS AND THEIR USE 600 – 1200 AD
International Symposium, Rome, Terme di Diocleziano (Viale Enrico de Nicola, 79, 00185
Roma) 5 – 6 June 2014
Freiburg University, Institute of Byzantine Archaeology
German Archaeological Institute, Rome
Fritz Thyssen Foundation
in cooperation with
Museo delle Terme di Diocleziano
Thursday, 5 June 2014
10.00 Welcome: Ortwin Dally (German Archaeological Institute, Rome)
10.15 Introduction: David Knipp (Freiburg University): Baths and Bathing in Times of
Transition and Changing Values
Session 1: Decline and Transformation of the Roman Baths
Chair: Robert Coates-Stephens (British School at Rome)
10.30 Giulia Giovanetti (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”): Balnea ‘privati’ nel paesaggio
urbano di Roma e Ostia in età tardo antica (III-VI secolo d.C.)
11.15 Lucia Saguì (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”): Il balneum medievale nell’esedra
della Crypta Balbi (Roma)
Coffee
12.30 Francesca Romana Stasolla (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”): Bagni e saune tra
tradizioni technologiche e portati culturali
13.15-14.30 Lunch Break
Session 2: Bathing Establishments in North Africa during the Dark Ages and Beyond
Chair: David Knipp (Freiburg University)
14.30 Chokri Touihri (Paris, Université Sorbonne) : Les bains de Dougga entre antiquité
tardive et Haut Moyen Age, à la lumière de l’archéologie
15.15 Ralf Bockmann (German Archaeological Institute, Rome): Changes and Continuity in
Baths and Bathing in North Africa between the Byzantine and Early Medieval Epochs
Coffee
16.30 Fathi Bahri (Kairouan, Institut Nationale du Patrimoine): Hammam al-Zughbar, un bain
et des questionnements
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Friday, 6.June 2014
Session 3: Thermal Cures and Bathing in Byzantium
Chair: Philipp Niewöhner (Oxford University)
9.30 Macit Tekinalp (University of Ankara): Early Byzantine Bath Buildings at Arykanda
and Arif Kale in Lycia
10.15 Ioanna Arvanitidou (Università di Roma “La Sapienza“): From the Roman to the
Byzantine Bath Complexes in Greece. Early Approaches
Coffee
11.30 Rainer Warland (Freiburg University) : Wohnkultur ohne Bäder? Sondierungen zum
Umgang mit Wasser im mittelbyzantinischen Kappadokien
12.15 Christine Stephan-Kaissis (Heidelberg University): Cosmic Waters – Holy Wells: The
Art of Bathing in Byzantium
13.00- 14.30 Lunch Break
Session 4: Heritage and Transition: Middle Byzantine and Islamic Baths in Asia Minor and
the Levant
Chair: Ralph Bockmann (German Archaeological Institute, Rome)
14.30 Philipp Niewöhner (Oxford University): Archaeology and the Social Character of
Bathing in Byzantine Anatolia: Miletus, Andriake, Kirse Yani, and Germia
15.15 Mahmoud Hawari (Oxford University): Early Islamic / Umayyad Baths: Continuity and
Innovation – in the Case of ‘Hisham’s Palace’ at Khirbat al-Mafjar, Jericho, Palestine
Coffee
16.30 Ignacio Arce (Amman, Spanish Archaeological Mission to Jordan): The Representative
and Social Value of Umayyad Bath Houses: Antecedents and Cases-Study
17.15 Conclusions
For further information please contact David Knipp,
Institute of Archaeology, University of Freiburg
email: [email protected]
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During late antiquity hygienic habits and the usage of water change considerably. Small scale
urban baths and private establishments now exist alongside the lavish Roman thermae. While
until recently, primarily the decline of urban structures was perceived as responsible for the
eventual abandonment of the great ancient thermae, new investigations would seem to suggest
a modified attitude towards body and cleaning as a main reason for this development. In
addition, religious and symbolic connotations of water become increasingly important and
complex.
The conference aims at a broad discussion of these issues in the light of new discoveries and
archaeological data from Byzantine and Islamic contexts in the central and eastern
Mediterranean. The concept of decline may eventually be challenged in view of changing
values and meanings attached to the baths.
Le abitudine igieniche e l’utilizzo dell’acqua sono cambiati in modo considerevole durante la
tarda antichità. In questo periodo troviamo stabilimenti privati e bagni termali di dimensioni
ridotte accanto alle grandiose thermae degli Romani. Mentre fino a poco tempo si attribuiva
l’abbandono delle grandi strutture termali dell’antichità al generale declino dell’assetto
urbano, oggi nuovi studi sembrerebbero indicare una nuova attitudine nei confronti del corpo
e dell’igiene personale come il fattore decisivo di questa trasformazione. Va tenuto conto
anche delle crescente importanza data ai significati simbolici e alle valenze religiose
dell’acqua.
Scopo della conferenza è proprio quello di promuovere un’ampia discussione di questi
problemi alla luce delle nuove scoperte e dei rinvenimenti archeologici nelle aree bizantine e
islamiche del Mediterraneo centrale ed orientale. Possiamo quindi rivedere l’idea di un
cambiamento dovuto soltanto al degrado architettonico per prendere invece in seria
considerazione la profonda trasformazione dei valori e dei significati associate ai bagni
termali.
In der Spätantike kündigt sich ein veränderter Umgang mit Wasser an. Neben den
verschwenderischen Wasserluxus öffentlicher Thermen treten kleindimensionierte
Stadtteilbäder und private Einrichtungen. Galt bisher der Niedergang der städtischen
Infrastruktur als Grund für die Aufgabe der Thermen, so treten in der Gegenwart neue
Interpretationsmuster auf, in denen sich eine veränderte Hygienepraxis und ein neues
Körperverständnis abzeichnen. Mit dem gezielten Einsatz der Ressource Wasser geht zugleich
eine religiöse, symbolische Aufladung als Quelle des Lebens oder der Erkenntnis einher.
Die Tagung nimmt diese Veränderungen durch eine breite Diskussion von
Ausgrabungsbefunden in spätantiken, byzantinischen und frühislamischen Kontexten des
Mittelmeerraumes in den Blick. Was bislang primär als Rückschritt und Niedergang im
frühen Mittelalter wahrgenommen wurde, ist in seinen Brüchen und Transformationen von
paradigmatischer Bedeutung.

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