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While basically genealogical in nature, those within the genealogy or family tree as relatives and/or ancestors of the famous Hypatia of Alexandria, do much to put the story of Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria into a much different perspective than ever before. When items such as this become uncovered, it is often seen as a precursor to even more and perhaps much larger discoveries.
RAI 2023 Leiden
Anthropological and ethnological studies have thoroughly analysed the fundamental roles that genealogies play in various societies, which they summarize under the umbrella term descent. To have distinguished descent is therefore defined as a conscious strategy of individuals or groups to distance themselves from the rest of society and to thereby strengthen their position of power. Genealogies form a substantial part of the written remains from the ancient world (and in particular Mesopotamia), but they remain an understudied research topic. I propose to collect and study genealogies of individuals (spanning over at least three generations or more) from the Neo-Assyrian Period to Hellenistic times, thus rendering a detailed discussion and analysis of case studies possible. The text corpus is highly diverse, as it includes, among other things, royal inscriptions (Neo-Assyrian and Achaemenid), king lists, Babylonian legal documents and colophons of late cuneiform texts. The paper will focus on some preliminary observations particularly regarding the methodological approach. The main aim is not to scrutinise the genealogies’ historicity but rather to classify their varying functions (e.g. political or juridical) and contexts (e.g. monarchic). This framework shall allow to identify differences as well as similarities in the genealogical material and in the underlying societal structures. It shall also help to address geographical and temporal factors by further investigating the relationship between the (written) history of events and the changing socio-political conditions.
Genealogy
Although biological relationships are a universal reality for all human beings, the concepts of “family” and “family bond” depend on both the geographic region and the historical moment to which they refer. However, the concept of “family” can be determinant in a large variety of societies, since it can influence the lines of succession, inheritances and social relationships, as well as where and with whom an individual is buried. The relation between a deceased person and other members of a community, other individuals of the same necropolis, or even with those who are buried in the same tomb can be analysed from the genetic point of view, considering different perspectives: archaeological, historical, and forensic. In the present work, the concepts of “family” and “kinship” are discussed, explaining the relevance of genetic analysis, such as nuclear and lineage markers, and their contribution to genealogical research, for example in the heritage of surnames and Y-chromosome, as we...
In the earlier part of the first millennium BCE (c.1000–500 BCE), a larger number of the genealogical information had been incorporated in various types of the inscriptions. Genealogies can be found on votive stelae, temple statues, tomb walls, coffins, or as graffiti all over Egypt, being one of the most important media for preserving the memory of illustrious predecessors. Many of them include consecutive generations of one’s family, often covering both paternal and maternal ancestors. Sometimes, genealogies reach back hundreds of years. For instance, the so-called Berlin Genealogy (ÄM 23673) famously shows the owner – a Memphite priest Ankhefensakhmet – and 59 of his ancestors, extending to at least the reign of Mentuhotep II (c. 2000–1950 BCE), while the Wadi Hammamat inscription from regnal year 26 of Darius I (496 BCE) mentions 22 ancestors of the architect Khnumibre, including a famous northern vizier and high priest of Ptah under Ramses II (c. 1279–1213 BCE). Both inscriptions go back to one or more important office holding ancestors, often known from other sources. Other notable examples of similar epigraphic practice include various Serapeum stelae – like Louvre IM 2846 (16 generations), Louvre IM 3429 (10 generations), Louvre IM 4097 (10 generations) and Louvre IM 4067 (21 generations) – or statue Louvre N.663 (16 generations). The aim of this paper is to examine the approximate length of a generation by comparing dated and undated monuments from Lower Egypt, the individual longevity of the priestly elite, and the intentions behind such pedigrees from a socio-political perspective.
I belong to the camp of experts who believe that Prehistory still has many virgin fields of research and many fields that need to be completely reworked. Prehistoric genealogy is such virgin soil because of the absence of direct literary records, although DNA-based prehistoric archaeology is blossoming. However, just thinking of genealogy as a powerful cultural construct in Prehistory, our understanding of the past enormously enriches, and aids the in-depth study of, many prehistoric phenomena. In other words, the research question would be: Was genealogy a powerful cultural construct in Prehistory?
""Looking Backwards to Posterity: Catalogues of Ancestry from Homer to Ovid" in Laemmle, R., Scheidegger Laemmle, C. and Wesselmann,, K. (eds) Lists and Catalogues in Ancient Literature and Beyond: Towards a Poetics of Enumeration, Trends in Classics 107, Berlin/Boston, pp. 245-280, 2021
studies the dynamics of the catalogue before giving its definition; see further Tsagalis 2010, 323-324 (with nn. 3 and 4), where he also refers to Sammons' formulation. 6 Kyriakidis 2007, xiii. 7 One further clarification is necessary: We restrict the term 'genealogical catalogue' to cases where three or more generations are mentioned. Thus, we shall not apply it to a passage with a reference to the genealogy of-for example-two sons and their father. 8 Virgil, for example, states with regard to the Mons Albanus: qui nunc Albanus habetur;/tum neque nomen erat neque honos aut gloria monti ("what is now called Albanus; then there was no name nor fame or glory of the mountain", Aen. 12.134-135). This has been a common human experience repeated time and again and requires no specific literary evidence to prove it. 9 Bettini 1991, 123 on the theme of 'looking back'. 10 This is one of the ways "lists and catalogues in the Aeneid play a crucial role in expanding the temporal scope of the narrative": Reitz, Scheidegger Laemmle, and Wesselmann 2019, 686. One has to note that this quality of lists and catalogues is present as early as Homer. 11 Hes. Op. 164-165: τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἐν νήεσσιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης/ἐς Τροίην ἀγαγὼν Ἑλένης ἕνεκ᾽ ἠυκόμοιο ("Some [were destroyed] when [war] brought them in ships over the great stretch of the deep sea to Troy for the sake of Helen with the lovely hair.") 12 In Hesiod's Theogony, however, which actually forms an extensive catalogue, we do not find the 'pride' and 'self-praise' we meet in the heroic epic.
This essay looks at the research practices of early modern genealogists. Genealogy was (and is) a research-intensive enterprise. It requires the accumulation, management, organization, and display of vast amounts of personal information reaching back many generations. While recent research has studied in detail the social and political functions of premodern genealogy, and while the staging of genealogical information for purposes of representation has been investigated carefully, next to nothing is known about the work invested in actually researching family lines and dynastic relations. Yet the research strategies and practices, the constraints , and the possibilities of genealogical study had a crucial impact on the shape and understanding of genealogical information. By looking particularly carefully at archives as sites of genealogical data production, this essay attempts to shed light on this understudied question and contributes to the premodern history of erudition, antiquarianism, and scholarship.
Historical Demography/Historická demografie 47, no. 2, 2023
The aim of this study is twofold. On the one hand, the article provides an overview of current research in the field of family memory, amateur family history and (genetic) genealogy, emphasizing a few areas that are of interest for professional historians. These include the close links between the stories transmitted in families and family identity, its functioning and family resilience; the potential of family history to reveal alternative versions of the national past; and finally, genetic (DNA) genealogy, which has won the favour of tens of millions of adherents worldwide and which is able to redefine historically traditional social structures such as family or kinship. Investigative genetic genealogy is a fresh and burgeoning field that gives amateur family history new dimensions by including it into the investigative leads of law enforcement authorities. In the second line, the article provides examples of research done in the Czech Republic that allow for contextualizing the place and status of genealogy and genetic genealogy in the given country. The article contrasts the optimistic views of researchers about amateur family history, based on its position in countries such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with the far less favourable situation in the Czech Republic.
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