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Book Series
Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History, vol. 14
The Palmyrene Banqueting Tesserae
An Updated Corpus
Aleksandra Kubiak-Schneider, Rubina Raja, Julia Steding, Jean-Baptiste Yon
- Pages: approx. 360 p.
- Size:216 x 280 mm
- Illustrations:1217 b/w, 250 col., 10 tables b/w., 5 maps b/w
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2026
- € 165,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-60958-4
- Hardback
- Forthcoming (Aug/26)
- € 165,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-60961-4
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- Forthcoming
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Subject(s)
BIO
Olympia Bobou is an assistant professor at Aarhus University and participates in the Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability project and is working on the rich corpus of funerary sculpture from Palmyra.
Aleksandra Kubiak-Schneider is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wroclaw, working on the Semitic and Greek epigraphy of the Near East in the Graeco-Roman times.
Rubina Raja is professor of Classical Archaeology and centre director of Centre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University. She heads several collective research projects focussing on Palmyra, among these the Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability project and has published widely on Palmyra and the Near East.
Julia Steding is a research assistant at the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University. Her research is focusing on the Palmyrene funerary sculpture.
Jean-Baptiste Yon is researcher at the CNRS, Laboratoire HiSoMA
Summary
Banqueting tesserae — small, moulded terracotta tokens — were used in the religious sphere of Palmyra in the first three centuries AD, conveying a vivid iconographic language that underpinned sacral banquets held in the city’s sanctuaries and banqueting halls. Found today in those locations, these artefacts offer a rare glimpse into the overwhelmingly rich ritual and social lives of Palmyrene society.
This book and corpus provides the first comprehensive revision to the study of banqueting tokens since the 1955 publication Recueil des tessères de Palmyre, which catalogued 1132 types. Building on that foundational work, this publication updates the original corpus with 168 newly identified tesserae types, including numerous previously unpublished examples from the Palmyra Museum and a private collection in Damascus. Each new type is presented with detailed descriptions of motifs and inscriptions.
The book examines the rich iconographic and epigraphic landscape of tesserae, which feature depictions of priests, deities, animals, and symbolic imagery, while also casting light on some of the individuals who financed these feasts. With extensive indices on the iconography and epigraphy of the new types, as well as a translation of the indices from the Recueil des tessères de Palmyre, this new corpus presents a comprehensive overview and systematic study of this overlooked yet revealing class of material culture, which provides a unique source for our understanding of Palmyrene religious life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
The Palmyrene Tesserae — A New Corpus
The Palmyrene Banqueting Tesserae
The First Discoveries and History of Research
Vocabulary and Meaning
After the Recueil des Tessères de Palmyre
From Collections to New Interpretations
Prosopography
Paleography
Inscribed Tesserae
The Iconography of the Tesserae — RTP and New Corpus
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Works Cited
Catalogue of New Tesserae Types
Index: Epigraphy of New Tesserae Types
RTP Index — Epigraphy
RTP Index — Iconography
Appendix 1: Overview of Tesserae, Unpublished or Published after 1955, Following One of the Types Known from RTP
Appendix 2: Total Count of RTP Types
Plates
