Currency and spatiality in identity construction: an analysis of Roman power in the city of Dor, Israel (from 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE)

• Grant number: 23/01737-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Historical Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Vagner Carvalheiro Porto
• Grantee: Leticia Aga Pereira Passos
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present project has its focus on the city of Dor, which is a place of intense cultural contacts and interactions. Dor is located 130 Km from the north of Jerusalem and it is an ideal place to deepen in themes that involve thecontact of several inhabitants (Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans), enabling to provide varied analyses andinterpretations about Antiquity. Situated on Mount Carmel in Israel, the porty city has attracted the attention ofarchaeologists since the beginning of the 20th Century. The current excavation seasons evidence an ongoingstudy in the region. The main objective of this project is to understand the Roman presence in the Eastern regionof the Empire and the political and religious power present in the relation between the currency document and thespatiality evidenced by its contexto of city find. The comprehension of this political and religious relation presentin currency and other iconographic representation supports will allow us to hypothesize about the identityconstructions of Dor's population between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd Century CE. Through these reflections,we will investigate how the local populations received Roman conceptions from the mechanisms of cultural contactexperienced there. Thus, by focusing on analysis the monetary production, circulation and iconography, we intendto observe how these small objects can present themselves as a vehicle of ideological discourse, identifying thecity and its rites of sociability in the material culture. (AU)