The lectures and seminars presented by Professor Clarke on his tour are listed below:

[1] Shash Hamdan Tomb 1

A description and analysis of a spectacular tomb on the West bank of the Euphrates in North Syria of Antonine/Severan date, containing 70 relief statues - all of women, one rich burial (also female), as well as a sacrificial altar. This presentation explores how might this remarkable monument have been read by its contemporary users and what might itreflect of the cultural background of its makers.

[2] Excavating and interpreting the Governor's Palace, Jebel Khalid

This presentation takes one through the processes of excavating and then of interpreting the possible functions of each of the 26 ground-floor areas of this remarkably well-preserved governor's residence of the Hellenistic period. It also speculates about its (lost) upper storey, and about the messages the building might have given to those who viewed it and to those who used it.

[3] Jebel Khalid, an Hellenistic military outpost on the Euphrates: an overview.

This overview considers the 3.4km defence system of Jebel Khalid, a Seleucid fortress guarding a crossing-point on the Euphrates, examines in detail one of its 30 towers as well as the city-gates, the quarries exploited for all this construction work, the general lay-out of the site and looks briefly at the domestic housing for its garrison and some of the varieties of finds which excavation of them is producing.

[4] The Jebel Khalid Temple

This is a work-in-progress presentation - excavation is still incomplete of the three excavation seasons (2000-2002) so far spent on the Jebel Khalid Temple. This work is uncovering a remarkable discovery - the first fully Greek-style Temple found anywhere in the Levant for the Seleucid period. It is a Doric amphiprostyle structure, particularly well-preserved on its western portico. Even so it is producing a bewildering array of decorative features, some non-conformity to metropolitan norms in design and had no fewer than 28 incense altars placed around its periphery. So far excavation has produced two (unusual) statue heads, torso parts (in marble), and several over-life-size toes and feet!!

[5] Inscribed surfaces from Jebel Khalid and its environs

This examines graffiti and inscriptions from funerary monuments, a hermit's cave, a reliquary, an altar and a holy-man's tomb discovered during the survey of the immediate environs of Jebel Khalid, and graffiti and stamped handles from Jebel Khalid itself - and asks of the 33 naming elements in the documents presented what might onomastics reveal of the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity and history of the population of the region.

[6] From Scroll to Codex: the changing shape of the ancient book

This examines the reflection in iconography - in vase illustrations, wall paintings and early manuscript miniatures - of the great shift in the technology and format of the ancient book, from the dominance of the papyrus) scroll to that of the (parchment) codex, and explores some of the background to and implications of these fundamental changes - a technological shift as revolutionary as the advent of the modern e-book.

Professor Graeme Clarke, the 2002 AAIA Visiting Professor at the Acropolis Palace, Jebel Khalid, North Syria (courtesy, Graeme Clarke)