Journal articles by Martin Henig
F. H. Kaya/M. Albayrak/M. Henig/E. Laflı, Earrings from Nicaea in Bithynia (south-eastern Marmara), Cercetări Arheologice, 2024
In this brief paper 34 earrings are presented, all of which are curated in the Archaeological Mus... more In this brief paper 34 earrings are presented, all of which are curated in the Archaeological Museum of İznik in south-western Marmara region of Turkey. They are significant, as very few items of jewellery from Bithynia have been published.
KEYWORDS: Earrings, Graeco-Roman jewellery, İznik, Nicaea, Bithynia, Asia Minor, south-eastern Marmara, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Byzantine period, Anatolian archaeology, classical archaeology.
Brief notes by Martin Henig
E. Laflı/M. Buora/M. Henig, A glass phalera, 2024
Bu kısa makalede konu edilen eserin incelenmesi, ilgili kurum tarafından 2 Şubat 2004 tarih ve 60... more Bu kısa makalede konu edilen eserin incelenmesi, ilgili kurum tarafından 2 Şubat 2004 tarih ve 60364499-155.01-E.149289 sayı ile verilen yazılı bir izin sayesinde gerçekleşmiştir.
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
A glass paste phalera seems so far to have largely escaped scholarly attention, being illusrated only in 1990 and given a brief mention in 2017. It is circular with smooth edges which depicts a bust probably of Claudius with his three children. This glass phalera stands out among the numerous militaria in Turkey, which so far has not found adequate treatment. Typologically, it fits without difficulty into a series produced in the year AD 43 or shortly after that date.
Keywords: phalera, glass, Claudius, first century AD, Turkey, Roman glyptics, Roman archaeology.
M. Henig/E. Laflı, Two Roman engraved gemstones with Anatolian iconography (a note), Γλυπτός / Glyptós 5 [=Sabino Perea Yébenes (ed.), Astrology and magic in ancient gems, Thema Mundi 18, Madrid; Salamanca: Signifer Libros] (ISBN 13: 978-84-16202-49-2)., 2024
Bu kısa makalede konu edilen iki adet eserin incelenmesi, ilgili Müze Müdürlüğü tarafından 20 Haz... more Bu kısa makalede konu edilen iki adet eserin incelenmesi, ilgili Müze Müdürlüğü tarafından 20 Haziran 2005 tarih ve B.16.0.KVMG.0.10.00.01/707.1.(9)-84858 sayı ile verilen yazılı bir izin sayesinde gerçekleşmiştir.
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
Anatolia and northern Syria were rich in local deities as were other parts of the Empire, but a number are depicted on gems including Zeus Dolichenus, Elagabal, and in the case of the two intaglios kept in Turkey and featured here, Mount Argaeus and the great mother goddess, Kybele.
Keywords: Engraved gems, Mount Argaeus, Kybele, local deities, Asia Minor, Turkey, Roman period.
Conference Presentations by Martin Henig
Images of Demeter/Ceres on Anatolian glyptics, 2025
This is the abstract of a lecture in Constanţa, Romania which will be held at a conference in Sep... more This is the abstract of a lecture in Constanţa, Romania which will be held at a conference in September 2024. The program of the conference as well as Zoom links will be announced at hereby soon.
In ancient Graeco-Roman religion and mythology Demeter (Roman Ceres) was the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over the crops, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a goddess of cereals, she was also concerned with health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld where her daughter, kore, was destined to spend six months of the year. In this brief paper we focus on glyptic depictions of Demeter/Ceres as exemplified by a few examples of gems from various Turkish museums. The aim is to compile an iconographic repertory of Demeter gems in the Roman East and in doing so bring to life the cult associated with her.
Representations of Demeter/Ceres shown on gems are fairly standardised throughout the empire. The goddess holds ears of wheat and sometimes heads of seeding poppies, as well as an offering dish. She is frequently accompanied by her cult animal, an ant. On the Roman Imperial coinage she is equated with Fides Publica. Many gems show Tyche/ Fortuna, with her usual cornucopia and rudder, but also holding wheat and poppies, thus equating her with Demeter.
A remarkable intaglio from Kocaeli in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Kocaeli, ancient Nicomedia, recently published by the authors depicts an ear of wheat but also a torch, the latter indicative of nocturnal rites of Demeter, similar to those of the Eleusinian mysteries. Indeed, the chief divinity of Graeco-Roman Nicomedia was Demeter and indeed the most important religious shrine in Nicomedia was the temple of Demeter, which stood in a sacred precinct on a hill above the harbour. Arrian of Nicomedia served as priest of the goddess ”to whom the city is dedicated”, and where she was venerated, as at Eleusis, with her daughter, Kore. Arrian mentions the Mysteries of Demeter, who is often seen on the civic coins, holding her torch. So, this gem is an example of a local cult reflected in the material culture of Roman Asia Minor.
As stated, Demeter had a universal reach, for example there are many examples of intaglios showing her in Britannia, in the far west of the Roman Empire, including, for example, one from a sanctuary site at Marcham-Frilford, near Oxford on which the gem cutter has used the two colours of the stone, green and brown to signify the growing crops and the ripened grain.
Keywords: Demeter, Ceres, Underworld, engraved gems, intaglio, cameo, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Graeco-Roman glyptics, Turkish museums, Anatolian archaeology, museum studies, classical archaeology.
Papers by Martin Henig
Britannia, 2016
A hoard of objects found at the early Roman colony at Colchester in a small hole scraped into the... more A hoard of objects found at the early Roman colony at Colchester in a small hole scraped into the floor of a house destroyed during the Boudican revolt includes a group of high-quality gold jewellery, three silver military awards, a bag of coins, an unusual silver-clad wooden box and other items. Buried in haste as the British approached, they provide a remarkably clear image of one couple's background, achievements, taste and social standing. A bulla shows that the man was a Roman citizen, the awards that he was a veteran soldier of some distinction, while parallels for the woman's jewellery suggest that it was acquired in Italy.
Britannia, 2021
Excavated between 1984 and 1992, the site of a large Roman villa complex at Stanwick, Northampton... more Excavated between 1984 and 1992, the site of a large Roman villa complex at Stanwick, Northamptonshire, produced a significant quantity of sculpted and architectural worked stone. This paper assesses the various aspects of that material, including the petrological sources, and offers a new interpretation. Many items were discovered as post-packing or were otherwise reused within the fabric of the enlarged fourth-century villa, but originally derived from what were probably two earlier monumental structures dated on stylistic grounds to the early third century. The sculpture was initially examined in 1994–95 by Martin Henig and the late Thomas Blagg, whose work, especially on the large number of architectural pieces, has been subsumed into this paper and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. Supplementary material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X21000052) and comprises additional figures and tables.
Britannia, 2017
ABSTRACTThe limestone sculpture of an eagle firmly clasping a serpent in its beak was recovered f... more ABSTRACTThe limestone sculpture of an eagle firmly clasping a serpent in its beak was recovered from within the eastern Roman cemetery of London on the last day of excavations at 24–26 Minories, EC3 in September 2013. The sculpture, which is dated stylistically to the late first or early second century a.d., had been carefully buried within the backfill of a roadside ditch no later than the mid-second century. The Minories eagle is one of the finest and earliest examples of freestone sculpture from the London cemeteries and presumably adorned the tomb of a rich and important individual or family located nearby. Petrological analysis of the sculpture has revealed it is carved from oolitic limestone quarried from the south Cotswolds. The article presents the context of the findspot and a detailed description of the eagle sculpture with an in-depth discussion of the iconography of the image and the results of the petrological examination. The Supplementary Material available online (ht...
Britannia, 2016
Excavations to the east of the Roman fort of Inveresk in 2010 partly uncovered remains of a Mithr... more Excavations to the east of the Roman fort of Inveresk in 2010 partly uncovered remains of a Mithraeum — the first from Scotland and the earliest securely dated example from Britain. A large rectangular sunken feature with lateral benches contained two altars buried face down at its north-western end. One was dedicated to Mithras, with iconography of both Mithras and Apollo as well as libation vessels. The other was dedicated to Sol, with a frieze above showing the Four Seasons. The Sol altar had a recess in the rear for a light which would have shone through his pierced rays, eyes, mouth and nose. Remains of an iron rod behind the nose hint at a more complex arrangement to create special visual or acoustic effects. Paint and plaster traces were recorded on both altars. The dedicator, G(aius) Cas(sius) Fla(…), a centurion, may have been in command of the garrison or of a legionary detachment. Stylistic links, especially in letter form, connect the work to sculptors of Legio XX. The s...
Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1988
Glasgow Archaeological Journal, 1982
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2006
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 1983
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2001
A Roman signet ring made of iron and set with a red jasper intaglio was recently submitted to the... more A Roman signet ring made of iron and set with a red jasper intaglio was recently submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford by its owner, Mr James Collins, who is co-author of this note. The ring, which is in excellent condition, has a narrow hoop, widening towards the ...
Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 1992
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 2000
Page 1. Published by Maney Publishing (c) The British Archaeological Association From Stone to Te... more Page 1. Published by Maney Publishing (c) The British Archaeological Association From Stone to Textile: The Bacchus Mosaic at ... needle-work carpet using the design of the Roman Bacchus mosaic discovered in I7I2 close to the village of Stonesfield (Oxon.). ...
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1996
... I, type viii; C.Johns, TheJewellery ojRoman Britain (London 1996),48-49. 3 Compare eadem, &#x... more ... I, type viii; C.Johns, TheJewellery ojRoman Britain (London 1996),48-49. 3 Compare eadem, 'Some unpublished jewellery from Roman Britain', Jewellery Studies v (1991),55-64 at p. 60 no. 13. ... Also note no. 348 from Verulamium. 6 Johns, Jewellery oj Roman Britain, 63, fig. ...
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1988
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 1986
Britannia, 1995
... 21 For portrait-cameos from the Balkan region (generally of inferior quality) see, for exampl... more ... 21 For portrait-cameos from the Balkan region (generally of inferior quality) see, for example, Dimitrova-Milcheva, op. cit. ... Valerie Hutchinson Pennanen and Martin Henig write: The subject of this note, a casual find from Clifton Down near Bristol, now in the collection of the ...
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Journal articles by Martin Henig
KEYWORDS: Earrings, Graeco-Roman jewellery, İznik, Nicaea, Bithynia, Asia Minor, south-eastern Marmara, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Byzantine period, Anatolian archaeology, classical archaeology.
Brief notes by Martin Henig
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
A glass paste phalera seems so far to have largely escaped scholarly attention, being illusrated only in 1990 and given a brief mention in 2017. It is circular with smooth edges which depicts a bust probably of Claudius with his three children. This glass phalera stands out among the numerous militaria in Turkey, which so far has not found adequate treatment. Typologically, it fits without difficulty into a series produced in the year AD 43 or shortly after that date.
Keywords: phalera, glass, Claudius, first century AD, Turkey, Roman glyptics, Roman archaeology.
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
Anatolia and northern Syria were rich in local deities as were other parts of the Empire, but a number are depicted on gems including Zeus Dolichenus, Elagabal, and in the case of the two intaglios kept in Turkey and featured here, Mount Argaeus and the great mother goddess, Kybele.
Keywords: Engraved gems, Mount Argaeus, Kybele, local deities, Asia Minor, Turkey, Roman period.
Conference Presentations by Martin Henig
In ancient Graeco-Roman religion and mythology Demeter (Roman Ceres) was the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over the crops, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a goddess of cereals, she was also concerned with health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld where her daughter, kore, was destined to spend six months of the year. In this brief paper we focus on glyptic depictions of Demeter/Ceres as exemplified by a few examples of gems from various Turkish museums. The aim is to compile an iconographic repertory of Demeter gems in the Roman East and in doing so bring to life the cult associated with her.
Representations of Demeter/Ceres shown on gems are fairly standardised throughout the empire. The goddess holds ears of wheat and sometimes heads of seeding poppies, as well as an offering dish. She is frequently accompanied by her cult animal, an ant. On the Roman Imperial coinage she is equated with Fides Publica. Many gems show Tyche/ Fortuna, with her usual cornucopia and rudder, but also holding wheat and poppies, thus equating her with Demeter.
A remarkable intaglio from Kocaeli in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Kocaeli, ancient Nicomedia, recently published by the authors depicts an ear of wheat but also a torch, the latter indicative of nocturnal rites of Demeter, similar to those of the Eleusinian mysteries. Indeed, the chief divinity of Graeco-Roman Nicomedia was Demeter and indeed the most important religious shrine in Nicomedia was the temple of Demeter, which stood in a sacred precinct on a hill above the harbour. Arrian of Nicomedia served as priest of the goddess ”to whom the city is dedicated”, and where she was venerated, as at Eleusis, with her daughter, Kore. Arrian mentions the Mysteries of Demeter, who is often seen on the civic coins, holding her torch. So, this gem is an example of a local cult reflected in the material culture of Roman Asia Minor.
As stated, Demeter had a universal reach, for example there are many examples of intaglios showing her in Britannia, in the far west of the Roman Empire, including, for example, one from a sanctuary site at Marcham-Frilford, near Oxford on which the gem cutter has used the two colours of the stone, green and brown to signify the growing crops and the ripened grain.
Keywords: Demeter, Ceres, Underworld, engraved gems, intaglio, cameo, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Graeco-Roman glyptics, Turkish museums, Anatolian archaeology, museum studies, classical archaeology.
Papers by Martin Henig
KEYWORDS: Earrings, Graeco-Roman jewellery, İznik, Nicaea, Bithynia, Asia Minor, south-eastern Marmara, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Byzantine period, Anatolian archaeology, classical archaeology.
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
A glass paste phalera seems so far to have largely escaped scholarly attention, being illusrated only in 1990 and given a brief mention in 2017. It is circular with smooth edges which depicts a bust probably of Claudius with his three children. This glass phalera stands out among the numerous militaria in Turkey, which so far has not found adequate treatment. Typologically, it fits without difficulty into a series produced in the year AD 43 or shortly after that date.
Keywords: phalera, glass, Claudius, first century AD, Turkey, Roman glyptics, Roman archaeology.
This brief article will be displayed in Academia beginning from January 1, 2026, as it can be filed on freely accessible online archives no earlier than one year after the release of its journal. Please e-mail me for obtaining this brief article before 2026: [email protected]
Anatolia and northern Syria were rich in local deities as were other parts of the Empire, but a number are depicted on gems including Zeus Dolichenus, Elagabal, and in the case of the two intaglios kept in Turkey and featured here, Mount Argaeus and the great mother goddess, Kybele.
Keywords: Engraved gems, Mount Argaeus, Kybele, local deities, Asia Minor, Turkey, Roman period.
In ancient Graeco-Roman religion and mythology Demeter (Roman Ceres) was the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over the crops, and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a goddess of cereals, she was also concerned with health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld where her daughter, kore, was destined to spend six months of the year. In this brief paper we focus on glyptic depictions of Demeter/Ceres as exemplified by a few examples of gems from various Turkish museums. The aim is to compile an iconographic repertory of Demeter gems in the Roman East and in doing so bring to life the cult associated with her.
Representations of Demeter/Ceres shown on gems are fairly standardised throughout the empire. The goddess holds ears of wheat and sometimes heads of seeding poppies, as well as an offering dish. She is frequently accompanied by her cult animal, an ant. On the Roman Imperial coinage she is equated with Fides Publica. Many gems show Tyche/ Fortuna, with her usual cornucopia and rudder, but also holding wheat and poppies, thus equating her with Demeter.
A remarkable intaglio from Kocaeli in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Kocaeli, ancient Nicomedia, recently published by the authors depicts an ear of wheat but also a torch, the latter indicative of nocturnal rites of Demeter, similar to those of the Eleusinian mysteries. Indeed, the chief divinity of Graeco-Roman Nicomedia was Demeter and indeed the most important religious shrine in Nicomedia was the temple of Demeter, which stood in a sacred precinct on a hill above the harbour. Arrian of Nicomedia served as priest of the goddess ”to whom the city is dedicated”, and where she was venerated, as at Eleusis, with her daughter, Kore. Arrian mentions the Mysteries of Demeter, who is often seen on the civic coins, holding her torch. So, this gem is an example of a local cult reflected in the material culture of Roman Asia Minor.
As stated, Demeter had a universal reach, for example there are many examples of intaglios showing her in Britannia, in the far west of the Roman Empire, including, for example, one from a sanctuary site at Marcham-Frilford, near Oxford on which the gem cutter has used the two colours of the stone, green and brown to signify the growing crops and the ripened grain.
Keywords: Demeter, Ceres, Underworld, engraved gems, intaglio, cameo, Hellenistic period, Roman period, Graeco-Roman glyptics, Turkish museums, Anatolian archaeology, museum studies, classical archaeology.