Book contents
- The Making of Empire in Bronze Age Anatolia
- The Making of Empire in Bronze Age Anatolia
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- One Empire Is Always in the Making
- Part I Empire at Home
- Part II On Empire’s Edges
- Part III Empire of Things
- Seven Discipline and Différence
- Eight Plain Things
- Nine Ceasing Empire
- Ten Concluding Thoughts
- Works Cited
- Index
Eight - Plain Things
from Part III - Empire of Things
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2020
Book contents
- The Making of Empire in Bronze Age Anatolia
- The Making of Empire in Bronze Age Anatolia
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- One Empire Is Always in the Making
- Part I Empire at Home
- Part II On Empire’s Edges
- Part III Empire of Things
- Seven Discipline and Différence
- Eight Plain Things
- Nine Ceasing Empire
- Ten Concluding Thoughts
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Chapter 8 focuses on a category of things that was, as I shall argue, only indirectly implicated in Hittite empire-making: the plain and visually standardising ceramic vessels that furnished Hittite households as well as state institutions. Taking another critical look at traditional assumptions which link craft specialisation and efficiency theories with the symbolism of plainness and notions of state control, I propose in this chapter a consumption-oriented explanation centred not on imperial intent or influence but on the commensal fashions of an increasingly globalising East Mediterranean and Near Eastern interaction sphere.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Making of Empire in Bronze Age AnatoliaHittite Sovereign Practice, Resistance, and Negotiation, pp. 228 - 263Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020