Table Of ContentFashioned Selves
Dress and Identity in Antiquity
Edited by
Megan Cifarelli
Oxford & Philadelphia
Published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by
OXBOW BOOKS
The Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE
and in the United States by 
OXBOW BOOKS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2019
Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-254-5
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-255-2 (epub)
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2019938764
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any 
means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and 
retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
Printed in the United Kingdom by Short Run Press
Typeset in India for Casemate Publishing Services. www.casematepublishingservices.com
For a complete list of Oxbow titles, please contact: 
UNITED KINGDOM  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Oxbow Books  Oxbow Books
Telephone (01865) 241249  Telephone (610) 853-9131, Fax (610) 853-9146
Email: [email protected]  Email: [email protected]
www.oxbowbooks.com  www.casemateacademic.com/oxbow
Oxbow Books is part of the Casemate Group
Front cover:  BM 124876 Assurbanipal on horseback, dressed in a rosette-patterned hunting dress with 
stylus inserted in the waistband. North Palace Room S, Panel 13 (© The Trustees of the 
British Museum). 
Back cover:  Tribute procession of the Syrian delegation, with a Persian courtier leading a delegate by 
the hand on the Eastern stairway of the Apadana, Persepolis (top); Tribute procession of 
the Assyrian delegation, with delegates leading rams and carrying textiles on the Eastern 
stairway of the Apadana, Persepolis (bottom) (courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the 
University of Chicago).
Contents
List of contributors �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v
Introduction: Fashioned selves ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1
Megan Cifarelli
Part One: Funerary selves
1	 Fashioned	identity	in	the	Şərur	Valley,	Azerbaijan:	Kurgan	CR8 ��������������������������11
  Jennifer Swerida and Selin Nugent
2  To toggle back and forth: clothing pins and portable identities in the Old 
Assyrian Period ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27
  Nancy Highcock
3	 Male	dress	habits	in	Roman	period	Palmyra ������������������������������������������������������������41
  Maura Heyn and Rubina Raja
Part Two: Sacred fashions
4	 Dressed	to	heal,	protect	and	rule:	vestiges	of	shamanic	praxis	in	 
ancient Near Eastern rituals and beliefs��������������������������������������������������������������������57
  Diana L. Stein
5	 A	proposal	for	interpreting	the	role	of	colour	symbolism	in	Prepalatial	 
Cretan	body	adornment� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������75
  Cynthia S. Colburn
6  Biblical regulation of tattooing in the light of ancient Near Eastern  
practices ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������89
  Nili S. Fox
7	 Weapons	and	weaving	instruments	as	symbols	of	gender	in	the	Ancient	 
Near East �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������105
  Sophus Helle
iv Contents
8	 Israelite	high	priestly	apparel:	embodying	an	identity	between	human	 
and divine ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������117
  Christine Palmer
Part	Three:	Communal	selves
9	 A	feather	in	your	cap:	symbols	of	“Philistine”	warrior	status? ���������������������������131
  Josephine A. Verduci
10	 Some	observations	on	fringe	in	Elamite	dress �������������������������������������������������������147
  Trudy S. Kawami
11	 The	impenetrable	body:	armour	and	the	male	nude	in	Greek	art ����������������������161
  Marina Haworth
12	 Dressed	to	dazzle,	dressed	to	kill:	staging	Assurbanipal	in	the	royal	 
lion	hunt	reliefs	from	Nineveh ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������175
  Omar N’Shea
13	 Banqueting,	dress,	and	the	idealized	Sogdian	merchant ��������������������������������������185
  Betty Hensellek
Part Four: Beyond identity
14  A sense of stone and clay: the inter-corporeal disposition of  
Minoan glyptic �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������203
  Emily S. K. Anderson
15	 The	phenomenology	and	sensory	experience	of	dress	in	Mesopotamia:	the	
embodiment	of	discomfort	and	pain	through	dress ���������������������������������������������219
  Allison K. Thomason
16	 The	tangible	self:	embodiment,	agency,	and	the	functions	of	adornment	in	
Achaemenid	Persia ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������233
  Neville McFerrin
List of contributors
Emily	S.	K.	Anderson	is	an	Assistant	Professor	in	the	Department	of	Classics	at	Johns	
Hopkins	University.	Her	research	and	fieldwork	primarily	concern	the	material	and	
visual	cultures	of	the	Aegean	and	eastern	Mediterranean	Bronze	Age	with	a	focus	on	
the	ways	in	which	objects	are	involved	in	the	relations,	negotiations,	and	unfolding	
of sociocultural life�
Megan	Cifarelli	is	Professor	of	Visual	Studies	and	Art	History	at	Manhattanville	College,	
and	a	Consulting	Scholar	at	the	University	of	Pennsylvania	Museum.	Her	research	
focuses	on	applications	of	dress,	gender,	and	archaeological	theory	to	the	visual	and	
material	cultures	of	the	ancient	Near	East,	particularly	during	the	1st	millennium	BCE.	
Cynthia S� Colburn is Professor of Art History at Pepperdine University� Her research 
focuses	on	the	art	and	archaeology	of	the	Bronze	Age	Eastern	Mediterranean,	including	
identity	construction	through	bodily	adornment	and	performance.
Nili	S.	Fox	is	Professor	of	Bible	and	Director	of	the	Archaeology	Center,	Hebrew	Union	
College-Jewish	Institute	of	Religion,	Cincinnati.	Her	current	research	focuses	on	dress	
practices in ancient Israel and neighboring cultures�
Marina	Haworth	teaches	Art	History	at	North	Hennepin	Community	College	near	
Minneapolis,	Minnesota.	She	specializes	in	Greek	art,	with	a	specific	interest	in	
symposium	pottery.
Sophus	Helle	is	a	PhD	student	in	Comparative	Literature	and	Assyriology	at	the	
University	of	Aarhus,	Denmark.	He	has	published	on	a	number	of	topics	relating	
to	authorship,	epic	poetry,	and	the	representation	of	gender	in	cuneiform	cultures.
Betty	Hensellek’s	research	interests	revolve	around	the	material	culture	of	Central	
Asia	and	Iran	in	the	1st	millennium	CE.	She	is	the	Sylvan	C.	Coleman	and	Pam	
Coleman	Memorial	Fund	Fellow	in	the	Department	of	Ancient	Near	Eastern	Art	at	
The	Metropolitan	Museum	of	Art,	and	a	doctoral	candidate	in	the	Department	of	the	
History	of	Art,	Cornell	University.
vi List of contributors
Maura	Keane	Heyn	is	an	Associate	Professor	of	Classical	Studies	at	the	University	of	
North	Carolina	at	Greensboro.	Her	research	focuses	on	the	funerary	portraiture	of	
Palmyra,	in	particular	the	hand	gestures,	depictions	of	women,	and	the	significance	
of	the	different	styles	of	dress	worn	by	the	deceased.
Nancy	Highcock	is	a	Postdoctoral	Researcher	at	the	McDonald	Institute	for	
Archaeological	Research,	University	of	Cambridge.	In	addition	to	her	work	on	the	
material	culture	of	Mesopotamia,	she	is	the	director	of	the	lower	town	excavations	
at	the	site	of	Kınık	Höyük-Niğde	in	south-central	Anatolia.	
     
Trudy	S.	Kawami	received	her	PhD	in	art	history	and	archaeology	from	Columbia	
University,	where	she	focused	on	the	art	of	ancient	Western	Asia.	Living	in	Brooklyn,	
NY,	she	has	a	special	interest	in	ancient	Iran	and	the	many	manifestations	of	its	rich	
visual traditions�  
Neville	McFerrin	is	a	Visiting	Assistant	Professor	in	the	Department	of	Classics	and	
World	Religions	at	Ohio	University.	She	specializes	in	dress	theory	with	a	particular	
focus	on	the	interactions	between	adornment,	sense	modalities,	perception,	and	
materiality	on	the	sites	of	Persepolis	and	Pompeii.	
         
Omar	N’Shea	is	Senior	Lecturer	at	the	University	of	Malta.	His	research	interests	
span	the	visual	and	textual	cultures	of	the	ancient	Near	East	in	general,	and	Iraq	in	
particular.	In	his	work,	Omar	has	addressed	the	methodological	issues	that	arise	in	
the	study	of	masculinities	in	Mesopotamia.	
     
Selin	E.	Nugent	is	a	Postdoctoral	Researcher	at	the	Centre	for	Anthropology	and	Mind	
at	the	University	of	Oxford	and	a	Research	Affiliate	at	the	Institute	for	the	Study	of	the	
Ancient	World	at	New	York	University.	Her	research	centres	on	nomadic	pastoralism,	
human	migration,	and	group	cohesion	in	the	South	Caucasus,	which	she	explores	in	
her	doctoral	thesis,	“Pastoral	Mobility	and	the	Formation	of	Complex	Settlement	in	
the	Middle	Bronze	Age	Şərur	Valley,	Azerbaijan”.
       
Christine	Palmer	is	a	faculty	member	at	Gordon-Conwell	Theological	Seminary	where	
she	teaches	courses	on	the	Hebrew	Bible	and	leads	archaeological	study	trips	to	Israel,	
Jordan,	and	her	own	native	country	of	Greece.	Her	research	focuses	on	ritual	at	the	
intersection	of	text,	material	culture,	and	embodied	experience.	
Rubina	Raja	is	Professor	of	Classical	Archaeology	and	centre	director	of	the	Centre	
for	Urban	Network	Evolutions.	She	also	directs	the	Palmyra	Portrait	Project,	which	
she	initiated	in	2012.	Raja’s	fields	of	interest	cover	iconography,	numismatics,	and	
urban	development	in	the	Mediterranean	and	the	East	from	the	Hellenistic	into	the	
Medieval periods�
List of contributors vii
Diana	L.	Stein	lectures	in	the	Department	of	Classics,	History,	and	Archaeology	at	
Birkbeck,	University	of	London.	An	Alexander	von	Humboldt	scholar,	she	has	authored,	
co-authored,	and	edited	publications	on	aspects	of	ancient	Near	Eastern	material	
culture,	including	seal	use	and	design,	Bronze	Age	chronology,	and	ritual	practice.
Jennifer	Swerida	is	the	Assistant	Director	of	the	Naxçivan	Archaeological	Project	
(Naxçivan,	Azerbaijan),	Co-Director	of	the	Bat	Archaeological	Project	(Sultanate	of	
Oman),	and	is	the	Dyson	Postdoctoral	Fellow	at	the	Penn	Museum,	University	of	
Pennsylvania.	Her	research	interests	centre	on	identity	formation	and	alternative	
forms	of	social	complexity	in	the	Ancient	Near	East.
Allison	K.	Thomason	is	a	Professor	of	Ancient	History	at	Southern	Illinois	University	
Edwardsville.	She	specializes	in	the	material	culture	of	the	ancient	Near	East.
Josephine	A.	Verduci	specializes	in	the	personal	adornment	of	the	Aegean	and	the	Near	
East and is author of Metal Jewellery of the Southern Levant and its Western Neighbours: 
Cross-Cultural Influences in the Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean. She is currently 
an	Honorary	Fellow	of	the	University	of	Melbourne	and	a	Research	Fellow	of	the	
Australian Institute of Archaeology�
Introduction: Fashioned selves
Megan Cifarelli
This	volume	gathers	papers	presented	in	the	Approaches to Dress and the Body sessions 
at	the	Annual	Meetings	of	the	American	Schools	of	Oriental	Research	in	2016	and	
2017,	as	well	as	in	sessions	relating	to	ancient	dress	at	the	Annual	Meetings	of	the	
Archaeological	Institute	of	America	in	2018.1	The	case	studies	in	this	volume	draw	
upon	varied	and	overlapping	corpora	of	evidence,	including	archaeological	bodies	
themselves	and	the	physical	traces	of	dress	in	the	form	of	markings	on	the	skin	and	
associated	mortuary	goods,	as	well	as	evidence	for	dress	in	written	and	visual	culture.	
The	materials	stem	from	a	range	of	geographic	and	chronological	contexts	–	including	
Late	Antique	Central	Asia,	the	prehistoric	Caucasus,	Iran,	Mesopotamia,	Syria,	the	
Levant,	Egypt,	the	Aegean,	and	the	Greco-Roman	world.	The	breadth	of	this	volume	
is	deliberate,	intentionally	underscoring	the	cultural	specificity	and	localization	of	
the	reciprocal	interactions	between	dress	and	identity.	The	chapters	emphasize	as	
well	that	dress	does	not	simply	function	as	a	static	expression	of	identity	or	status	
–	inscribed	on	the	body	to	be	“read”	by	others	–	but	is	a	dynamic	component	in	the	
construction,	embodiment,	performance,	and	transformation	of	identities.2
A	brief	look	at	the	origins	of	dress	in	human	history	–	its	relationship	to	the	evolution	
of	human	cognition	and	the	development	of	behavioural	modernity	–	sheds	new	light	
on	the	proverbial	statement	that	“clothes	make	the	man”	(attributed	to	Erasmus	of	
Rotterdam,	among	others).	Direct	evidence	for	the	initial	development	of	dress	is	
lost	to	time	and	the	perishability	of	materials.	Indirect	evidence,	however,	suggests	
that our distant ancestors were decorating and covering their bodies as early as the 
early	Late	Pleistocene	(Bar-Yosef	Mayer	and	Bosch	2019).	Caches	of	coloured	pigments	
accompanying	sites	of	human	activity	in	this	period,	for	example,	may	have	been	used	
to	mark	bodies	(Barham	2002;	Langley	and	O’Connor	2019).	Three	sites	claim	to	have	the