In this Book
- Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires
- Book
- 2016
- Published by: University of California Press
-
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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What is the role of the material world in shaping the tensions and paradoxes of imperial sovereignty? Scholars have long shed light on the complex processes of conquest, extraction, and colonialism under imperial rule. But imperialism has usually been cast as an exclusively human drama, one in which the world of matter does not play an active role. Lori Khatchadourian argues instead that things—from everyday objects to monumental buildings—profoundly shape social and political life under empire. Out of the archaeology of ancient Persia and the South Caucasus, Imperial Matter advances powerful new analytical approaches to the study of imperialism writ large and should be read by scholars working on empire across the humanities and social sciences.
What is the role of the material world in shaping the tensions and paradoxes of imperial sovereignty? Scholars have long shed light on the complex processes of conquest, extraction, and colonialism under imperial rule. But imperialism has usually been cast as an exclusively human drama, one in which the world of matter does not play an active role. Lori Khatchadourian argues instead that things—from everyday objects to monumental buildings—profoundly shape social and political life under empire. Out of the archaeology of ancient Persia and the South Caucasus, Imperial Matter advances powerful new analytical approaches to the study of imperialism writ large and should be read by scholars working on empire across the humanities and social sciences.
Table of Contents


- Acknowledgment
- p. ii
- List of Illustrations
- pp. ix-xi
- Introduction
- pp. xix-xxxviii
- PART ONE
- 2. Where Things Stand
- pp. 25-50
- 3. Imperial Matter
- pp. 51-77
- PART TWO
- 4. From Captives to Delegates
- pp. 81-117
- Conclusion
- pp. 194-204
- References Cited
- pp. 231-275
Additional Information
ISBN
9780520964952
Related ISBN(s)
9780520290525
MARC Record
OCLC
1085393492
Pages
332
Launched on MUSE
2019-02-13
Language
English
Open Access
Yes
Creative Commons
CC-BY