Research
My research focuses on the politico-administrative institutions and economic systems of Mediterranean city-states throughout the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, with a particular emphasis on Cyprus. I explore how the Achaemenid Empire and the Hellenistic kingdoms influenced the economy of these city-states and triggered the development of local forms of government. I also investigate Mediterranean socio-cultural connections, ancient mobility, and women roles in Ancient Cyprus and Levant. All my studies are conducted through the analysis of inscriptions on different support materials such as stones, ostraka, clay tablets, vessels, written in different languages and scripts all attested on Cyprus, including alphabetic Greek, Phoenician, Cypriot-syllabic Greek and Cypriot-syllabic Eteocypriot, an indigenous language that remains undeciphered. Recently, my research interests have expanded to include the examination of travelers' graffiti in desert areas such as Negev, Sinai, and Sahara.
Socio-political, administraive and economic developments of ancient Cyprus and of city-states under the Achaemenid and Ptolemaic empires
Through new readings and interpretation of Cypriot inscriptions, my first book Kypriōn Politeia, the Political and Administrative Systems of the Classical Cypriot City-Kingdoms', Mnemosyne, Supplements, Volume: 459, Brill 2022. reconstructs in detail the political and administrative systems of the Classical city-kingdoms of Cyprus. The book investigates the bodies of government beyond the Cypriot kings and the roles played by magistrates and officials in local governments; it analyses accounts of the headquarters of the main administrative and economic activities – such as palace archives, and tax collection hubs –, and demonstrates that these systems had similarities in all the city-kingdoms. The monograph also shows how the Achaemenid Empire may have influenced the development of new bodies of government beyond the kings. My Leverhulme project ‘Rethinking regionalism and power in Hellenistic Cyprus’ (306-185 BC), analyses the role played by local elites in the administrations of Cypriot cities, continuity in local administrative practices, and how institutions in Ptolemaic Cyprus retained the form of Classical city-kingdoms, with features reaching as far back as the Iron Age. The project will also consider local administrative reactions to the imposition of Ptolemaic rule, comparing the particular case of Cyprus to a wider Hellenistic context.
Ancient Mobility in the Mediterranean and Near-East
As member of the cluster 'first encounters' (University of Haifa), I researched how the Mediterranean Sea acted as bridge among different populations and cultures becoming a medium for disseminating diverse knowledge and technologies, including purple production, and how movement of people has also facilitated the dissemination of innovative techniques. In this regard, I also compare socio-cultural developments on Mediterranean major islands such as Cyprus and Sicily. Ancient Mobility also arouse my interest in travellers' and pilgrims' graffiti in remote arid areas (Negev, Sinai, Sahara deserts) from Iron Age to Late Antiquity. I collaborate with the Mitzpe Shivta Archaeological Project (PI Dr. Sina Lehnig) which investigates a Byzantine monastery or 'xenodocheion' (6th cent. AD) in the Negev Desert on the Incense Route, where clusters of hitherto Greek graffiti were found. I also study graffiti engraved on Egyptian monuments, and compare their writings with contemporary graffiti practices, through socio-cognitive analyses.
Research grants
Rethinking regionalism and power in Hellenistic Cyprus
LEVERHULME TRUST (UK)
May 2024 - April 2027