Zena Kamash
Biographic Data
| ID | 370470 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Zena Kamash |
| GIVEN NAMES | Zena |
| FAMILY NAME | Kamash |
| SIGNATURE | KAMASH Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Holloway University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5947-5527 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Collecting Palmyra: The Global Dispersal of Palmyrene Funerary Reliefs
Palmyra has been pivotal in archaeological and historical research due to the wealth of material and the long history of fascination with the site. Its material culture can be found on every continent except Antarctica, in more than 250 public museums and private collections. This article focuses on the modern global dispersal of Palmyra’s material culture, specifically its characteristic funerary reliefs, and examines the ways in which the consu…
For Men, About Men: A Review of Legion: Life in the Roman Army
The review presents a critical examination of the British Museum’s Legion exhibition from the perspective of a British-Iraqi, female archaeologist. While acknowledging that the exhibition brought together a stellar cast of objects, the author questions whether these were sufficient to sustain an enriching visitor experience without a strong narrative derived from recent research developments in Roman archaeology. In particular, she highlights the…
Heritage and healing in Syria and Iraq
"What should we do with heritage damaged in conflict? An obvious response is to reconstruct it just as it was, but is this really the most helpful approach? In this stimulating book, British-Iraqi archaeologist Zena Kamash invites readers to consider the question more deeply. Charting a path through the colonial history of Syria and Iraq, she examines the responses currently on offer and explores their flaws and limitations, from issues of digita…
David Donald Boyer. 2022. Water management in Gerasa and its hinterland: From the Romans to AD 750 (Jerash Papers 10) . Turnhout: Brepols; 978-2-503-59862-8 paperback €125
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Knowing Palmyra: Mandatory production of archaeological knowledge
During the Syrian conflict, ongoing since 2011, Palmyra became notorious for the destruction and looting of its Roman-period remains, giving rise to many narratives of what Palmyra's future should bring, often without attention to how we have come to know its past. This article explores that past through a key period-the French Mandate-when European archaeologists categorically reshaped the site, culminating in the relocation of the site's popula…
Rebalancing Roman Archaeology: From disciplinary inertia to decolonial and inclusive action
This article analyses the current state of our discipline, particularly its decoloniality and inclusivity. This is investigated via two lenses: data from Roman Archaeology Conferences and Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conferences from 1991 to 2019; and data from the 2019 Roman Archaeology Teaching Survey. These two lenses provide ways into thinking about whose voices are heard in the discipline, current barriers to more diverse voices, and biases…
On Well-Being, Activism and Ethical Practice: Response to Trentin, Lisa. Sharing Histories: Teaching and Learning from Displaced Youth in Greece. Humanities 2018, 7, 53
In this response to Lisa Trentin’s article, I explore themes that bring together research and activism, through engagement with the past, and the ethics that concerns such endeavours. I demonstrate the overlaps with my own work into well-being and heritage and suggest that broadening out work to include mixed groups may increase the effects of reciprocity noted by Lisa Trentin. I argue that research, as well as teaching, which takes on the decolo…
Remembering Roman Syria: Valuing Tadmor-Palmyra, From ‘Discovery’ to Destruction
The 1753 publication of The Ruins of Palmyra by Robert Wood was key in the formation of archaeological understandings of the site. Examining the original notebooks and drawings of the expedition, which formed the basis for this publication (now held by the Combined Library of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Hellenic and Roman Societies in London), this article examines the relationship between those first documents, the publication, an…
‘Sweet and Delicious, he who Tastes it will Go Back to it’: Food, Memory and Religion in the Roman Middle East
This article aims to understand food habits in Roman-period temples in the Middle East by exploring the nexus of taste, architecture and memory. This article shows that there was a range of flavours and tastes associated with religious behaviour and some that were explicitly not associated with religion. Where the data allow, this article demonstrates that some food practices can survive in cultural memory and be brought back after a seeming brea…
Reviving Palmyra in Multiple Dimensions: Images, Ruins and Cultural Memory
This article is referred to by:A Response to the Recent Review of the Book Reviving Palmyra in Multiple Dimensions: Images, Ruins and Cultural Memory
Religious Identities in the Levant from Alexander to Muhammed: Continuity and Change
Table of contents at: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503544458-1This book is the outcome of two conferences held in Damascus and Münster in 2010 that brought together ...
Postcard to Palmyra: Bringing the public into debates over post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East
This paper presents the results of the 'Postcard to Palmyra' project, which was run alongside a controversial installation of a replica of the triumphal arch from Palmyra in Trafalgar Square in 2016. The thoughts and feelings expressed here are those raised by the visitors to the replica arch. These complement critiques and discussions that already exist on the replica arch and bring in a new and much-needed additional element: public opinion. Th…
Understanding the Spatial Patterning of English Archaeology: Modelling Mass Data, 1500 BC to AD 1086
Variation in the density of archaeological evidence is caused by a multitude of interacting factors, some of which reinforce each other and some of which act to disguise genuine patterns of past practice. This paper initially presents a set of density models for England constructed by the members of the English Landscape and Identities (EngLaId) project and then goes on to discuss three possible explanations for the variation seen: modern afforda…
Memories of the Past in Roman Britain
After setting out the history of memory studies and the role of archaeology in these studies, this chapter examines three realms of memory in Roman Britain: the burial of memories; the reorganization of landscapes and memories; and the building of religious memory. First, I explore how burying people and objects can be part of the memory process, focusing on embodied actions and the use of legendary topographies in the landscape. I then examine h…
Memories of the Past in Roman Britain
An exploration of the relationship between shifting power, changing behaviour and new water technologies in the Roman Near East
What lies beneath? Perceptions of the ontological paradox of water
This paper discusses the paradox that the element water is both vital to life and yet can also kill. It is argued that this paradox was more apparent to humans than is often assumed in the modern Western world where water is usually viewed as pure and cleansing. This paper attempts to break this assumption down using three case studies. The first two use evidence from the imagery and inscriptions associated with dams and bathhouses in the Roman N…
Postcard to Palmyra: Bringing the public into debates over post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East
This paper presents the results of the 'Postcard to Palmyra' project, which was run alongside a controversial installation of a replica of the triumphal arch from Palmyra in Trafalgar Square in 2016. The thoughts and feelings expressed here are those raised by the visitors to the replica arch. These complement critiques and discussions that already exist on the replica arch and bring in a new and much-needed additional element: public opinion. Th…
What lies beneath? Perceptions of the ontological paradox of water
This paper discusses the paradox that the element water is both vital to life and yet can also kill. It is argued that this paradox was more apparent to humans than is often assumed in the modern Western world where water is usually viewed as pure and cleansing. This paper attempts to break this assumption down using three case studies. The first two use evidence from the imagery and inscriptions associated with dams and bathhouses in the Roman N…
Understanding the Spatial Patterning of English Archaeology: Modelling Mass Data, 1500 BC to AD 1086
Variation in the density of archaeological evidence is caused by a multitude of interacting factors, some of which reinforce each other and some of which act to disguise genuine patterns of past practice. This paper initially presents a set of density models for England constructed by the members of the English Landscape and Identities (EngLaId) project and then goes on to discuss three possible explanations for the variation seen: modern afforda…
Remembering Roman Syria: Valuing Tadmor-Palmyra, From ‘Discovery’ to Destruction
The 1753 publication of The Ruins of Palmyra by Robert Wood was key in the formation of archaeological understandings of the site. Examining the original notebooks and drawings of the expedition, which formed the basis for this publication (now held by the Combined Library of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Hellenic and Roman Societies in London), this article examines the relationship between those first documents, the publication, an…
What lies beneath? Perceptions of the ontological paradox of water
This paper discusses the paradox that the element water is both vital to life and yet can also kill. It is argued that this paradox was more apparent to humans than is often assumed in the modern Western world where water is usually viewed as pure and cleansing. This paper attempts to break this assumption down using three case studies. The first two use evidence from the imagery and inscriptions associated with dams and bathhouses in the Roman N…
An exploration of the relationship between shifting power, changing behaviour and new water technologies in the Roman Near East
Memories of the Past in Roman Britain
After setting out the history of memory studies and the role of archaeology in these studies, this chapter examines three realms of memory in Roman Britain: the burial of memories; the reorganization of landscapes and memories; and the building of religious memory. First, I explore how burying people and objects can be part of the memory process, focusing on embodied actions and the use of legendary topographies in the landscape. I then examine h…
Memories of the Past in Roman Britain
Understanding the Spatial Patterning of English Archaeology: Modelling Mass Data, 1500 BC to AD 1086
Variation in the density of archaeological evidence is caused by a multitude of interacting factors, some of which reinforce each other and some of which act to disguise genuine patterns of past practice. This paper initially presents a set of density models for England constructed by the members of the English Landscape and Identities (EngLaId) project and then goes on to discuss three possible explanations for the variation seen: modern afforda…
Religious Identities in the Levant from Alexander to Muhammed: Continuity and Change
Table of contents at: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503544458-1This book is the outcome of two conferences held in Damascus and Münster in 2010 that brought together ...
Postcard to Palmyra: Bringing the public into debates over post-conflict reconstruction in the Middle East
This paper presents the results of the 'Postcard to Palmyra' project, which was run alongside a controversial installation of a replica of the triumphal arch from Palmyra in Trafalgar Square in 2016. The thoughts and feelings expressed here are those raised by the visitors to the replica arch. These complement critiques and discussions that already exist on the replica arch and bring in a new and much-needed additional element: public opinion. Th…
‘Sweet and Delicious, he who Tastes it will Go Back to it’: Food, Memory and Religion in the Roman Middle East
This article aims to understand food habits in Roman-period temples in the Middle East by exploring the nexus of taste, architecture and memory. This article shows that there was a range of flavours and tastes associated with religious behaviour and some that were explicitly not associated with religion. Where the data allow, this article demonstrates that some food practices can survive in cultural memory and be brought back after a seeming brea…
Reviving Palmyra in Multiple Dimensions: Images, Ruins and Cultural Memory
This article is referred to by:A Response to the Recent Review of the Book Reviving Palmyra in Multiple Dimensions: Images, Ruins and Cultural Memory
On Well-Being, Activism and Ethical Practice: Response to Trentin, Lisa. Sharing Histories: Teaching and Learning from Displaced Youth in Greece. Humanities 2018, 7, 53
In this response to Lisa Trentin’s article, I explore themes that bring together research and activism, through engagement with the past, and the ethics that concerns such endeavours. I demonstrate the overlaps with my own work into well-being and heritage and suggest that broadening out work to include mixed groups may increase the effects of reciprocity noted by Lisa Trentin. I argue that research, as well as teaching, which takes on the decolo…
Remembering Roman Syria: Valuing Tadmor-Palmyra, From ‘Discovery’ to Destruction
The 1753 publication of The Ruins of Palmyra by Robert Wood was key in the formation of archaeological understandings of the site. Examining the original notebooks and drawings of the expedition, which formed the basis for this publication (now held by the Combined Library of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Hellenic and Roman Societies in London), this article examines the relationship between those first documents, the publication, an…
Rebalancing Roman Archaeology: From disciplinary inertia to decolonial and inclusive action
This article analyses the current state of our discipline, particularly its decoloniality and inclusivity. This is investigated via two lenses: data from Roman Archaeology Conferences and Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conferences from 1991 to 2019; and data from the 2019 Roman Archaeology Teaching Survey. These two lenses provide ways into thinking about whose voices are heard in the discipline, current barriers to more diverse voices, and biases…
David Donald Boyer. 2022. Water management in Gerasa and its hinterland: From the Romans to AD 750 (Jerash Papers 10) . Turnhout: Brepols; 978-2-503-59862-8 paperback €125
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Knowing Palmyra: Mandatory production of archaeological knowledge
During the Syrian conflict, ongoing since 2011, Palmyra became notorious for the destruction and looting of its Roman-period remains, giving rise to many narratives of what Palmyra's future should bring, often without attention to how we have come to know its past. This article explores that past through a key period-the French Mandate-when European archaeologists categorically reshaped the site, culminating in the relocation of the site's popula…
Heritage and healing in Syria and Iraq
"What should we do with heritage damaged in conflict? An obvious response is to reconstruct it just as it was, but is this really the most helpful approach? In this stimulating book, British-Iraqi archaeologist Zena Kamash invites readers to consider the question more deeply. Charting a path through the colonial history of Syria and Iraq, she examines the responses currently on offer and explores their flaws and limitations, from issues of digita…
For Men, About Men: A Review of Legion: Life in the Roman Army
The review presents a critical examination of the British Museum’s Legion exhibition from the perspective of a British-Iraqi, female archaeologist. While acknowledging that the exhibition brought together a stellar cast of objects, the author questions whether these were sufficient to sustain an enriching visitor experience without a strong narrative derived from recent research developments in Roman archaeology. In particular, she highlights the…
Collecting Palmyra: The Global Dispersal of Palmyrene Funerary Reliefs
Palmyra has been pivotal in archaeological and historical research due to the wealth of material and the long history of fascination with the site. Its material culture can be found on every continent except Antarctica, in more than 250 public museums and private collections. This article focuses on the modern global dispersal of Palmyra’s material culture, specifically its characteristic funerary reliefs, and examines the ways in which the consu…
History (14 works) · Archaeology (10 works) · Archaeological Research and Protection (9 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (9 works) · Ancient history (8 works) · Art (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · History (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History (4 works)