Georgian National Museum together with the National Wine Agency presents public lecture by the Research Associate of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and the Archaeology Centre at the University of Toronto, Professor Stephan Batiuk. Lecture will take place in the framework of the joint project "Popularization of Georgian Vine and Wine Culture" on 10-11 of December 2014.

The Fruits of Migration: Examining the Effect of the Kura-Araxes Migrations in the Near East

The Kura-Araxes Migrations, perhaps our best archaeologically documented ancient migration, has been the focus of intensive investigation for over a hundred years. Most debates have focused on the "how" or the "why" of these migrations, while little work has been done on what happens to the migrants after they immigrate to their new homeland. How do these migrants integrate socially or economically without coming into conflict with local indigenous inhabitants? More over how do they do it from such a long period of time? This talk will examine this question through the model of viticulture as the economic niche which the Kura-Araxes settlers filled, providing a commodity that not only helped them survive and thrive in their new homelands, but also had a tremendous impact on the Near Eastern World.

Excavating Isaiah's ‘Kingdom of Idols': Recent Investigations by the University of Toronto at Tell Tayinat, Ancient Kinalia

Western scholarship has long questioned the historicity of religious text like the Hebrew Bible; often seen as having little to no historical value, and no place in archaeological investigations. However, over a century of textual criticism of the Bible has argued that some sections of the book may in fact preserve kernels of history that can help us understand the archaeological record. Tell Tayinat, located in the Hatay province of southern Turkey has been the focus of investigations by a team from the University of Toronto for fifteen years now. This talk will discuss some of the new sensational discoveries of the excavations, but more importantly how these finds are changing some of our understanding of the history and culture of the region in this pivotal period, and how they change our understanding of some of the sections of the Bible.

Admission to the lectures is free of charge!

Address: Georgian National Museum Auditorium, 1 Purtseladze Street.