We are excited to announce the publication of our book, Antioch: A History. This book tells the complete story of the “lost city” of Antioch-on-the-Orontes, from its foundation by the Seleucids in the 4th century BC to the 20th century. Of particular interest to you, our esteemed Byzantinists, is a more extensive and holistic view of the late antique and medieval periods and their transition. The early Byzantine period is in two chapters, and there is a chapter on the Middle Byzantine period, all contextualized with histories from the Early Islamic, Saljuq, and Crusader periods. This history of Antioch is grounded in a discussion of the urban transformations that took place and incorporates recent studies on the archaeology of the city, reevaluations of some of Princeton’s excavations, numismatic evidence, and inclusion of the hinterland of Antioch. Best, Asa Eger and Andrea de Giorgi.

The CARMEN Visual and Material Cultures series provides a platform for interdisciplinary medieval scholarship centred on visual and material cultures, through which it seeks to gain new perspectives and bring greater depth to existing historical narratives of the medieval world. Drawing on methodologies from a variety of disciplines—archaeology, art history, and anthropology—it can provide an understanding that is otherwise hindered by a focus solely on written sources. The series is a venue for established scholars as well as early career researchers from partners and countries within the CARMEN Medieval Network. Under its earlier name “CARMEN Monographs and Studies” we showed our commitment to publishing research from scholars outside Western Europe and North America. The renamed series retains its global commitment.

From her interests in late antique silver stamps to the abandoned churches of medieval Lebanon, the relationship of image and word in Islamic art, and the decoration of contemporary buses and trucks in Pakistan, Erica Cruikshank Dodd’s interests have been multi-faceted. Dedicated to Dr. Cruikshank Dodd, Art and Material Culture in the Byzantine and Islamic Worlds offers new perspectives on the Christian and Muslim communities of the east Mediterranean from medieval to contemporary times. The contributors examine how people from diverse religious backgrounds adapted to their changing political landscapes and show that artistic patronage, consumption, and practices are interwoven with constructed narratives. The essays consider material and textual evidence for painted media, architecture, and the creative process in Byzantium, Crusader-era polities, the Ottoman empire, and the modern Middle East, thus demonstrating the importance of the past in understanding the present.