Location: Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, Oxford.
Salary: £31,604 p.a. (Grade 7.1)
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Fixed-Term for 24 months
Closes: 18th June 2018 (12 noon)
Following the award of a European Research Council Advanced Grant, ‘Monumental Art of the Christian and Early Islamic East: Cultural Identities and Classical Heritage’, to Dr Judith McKenzie, the Faculty of Classics is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Late Antique Egyptian art to work on the project. This post will be fixed-term for 24 months, and it is anticipated that the appointee
will start on 1 October 2018.
This project will analyse the monumental art (large decorative programmes of wall and floor mosaics, and wall paintings on buildings) of two areas of the former eastern Roman Empire which came under Islamic rule but which have never been the subject of an integrated comprehensive study: Egypt and Syro-Palestine (modern Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel/Palestine). It aims to determine systematically how the strength and nature of the local Greco-Roman traditions and expressions of identities influenced monumental art in these regions during Late Antiquity (AD 250–750), the period of transition from paganism to Christianity and, in turn, to Islam. The project aims to define and distinguish between different strands of classical influence, both local and external (from the centres of Rome, Constantinople, and Alexandria). For the early Islamic period, it will also include other, eastern, influences. By investigating the roles of local artists and artisans as creators rather than imitators, and continuities of local workshop traditions, this project will transform our understanding of the artistic culture of the late antique Middle East.
The research on the art of late antique Egypt is particularly focused on ascertaining its distinguishing characteristics, before attempting to detect its wider influence. Substantial work has been completed on monumental figured late antique textiles from Egypt. The focus of the next stage is on painting, both of the 2nd-4th centuries and 5th-7th centuries, before examining the later tradition elsewhere in portable art, such as manuscripts and ivories.
Reporting to Dr Judith McKenzie, the post holder is a member of a research group with responsibility for carrying out research on the art of late antique Egypt for the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant project, Monumental Art of the Christian and Early Islamic East: Cultural Identities and Classical Heritage.
Further Particulars (which all applicants must consult) are available
throughhttps://www.recruit.ox.
Applications should include a CV and a supporting statement explaining your suitability for the post. Candidates are asked to submit two article length samples of written work and requested to have two references submitted by the closing date.
The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on 18th June 2018. Interviews are expected to be held in Oxford on 9th July 2018.