Archaeology Lecture with Brandon McDonald

Brandon McDonald (Tufts Uni.) will join us to speak on "Shifting Sands: The Dynamics of Trade and Resource Extraction in Roman Egypt’s Eastern Desert". Refreshments will be available from noon to 12:30 p.m.

Egypt’s Eastern Desert was a cultural and commercial nexus in Graeco-Roman antiquity, connecting societies of the Mediterranean, East Africa, and the western Indian Ocean. Yet activity in the region was anything but consistent; in particular, the Roman period (30 BCE – 641 CE) had extreme highs and near desolate lows. The first two centuries of Roman rule saw intensive exploitation of the desert’s resources – mainly precious stone and minerals – alongside bustling Indo-Mediterranean trade routes that channeled goods between the Mediterranean and Red seas. But, by the third century, the Roman state had withdrawn from significant portions of the Eastern Desert, abandoning major ports and quarries. While activity resurged in late antiquity (fourth – sixth century), the drivers of the revival remain debated – was it Roman re-engagement or indigenous initiative? Multiple factors may have shaped these transitions, including distant wars, shifting patterns of trade, environmental change, and outbreaks of disease. This talk explores the causes of dramatic socio-economic transformations in a dynamic frontier zone of the Roman Empire.