Dr Artemis Georgiou to Deliver Lecture at the University of Toronto on Late Bronze Age Cypriot Relief Friezes

Dr Artemis Georgiou, project director of the COMPAS ERC Starting Grant, will be delivering an invited lecture at the Archaeology Centre, University of Toronto, co‑hosted with the Royal Ontario Museum. The talk, titled “Lasting Impressions: Exploring the Iconography, Symbolism, and Meaning of Relief Friezes on Storage Vessels from Late Bronze Age Cyprus”, will take place on Monday, 2 November 2026, from 16:00 to 18:00, in Room AP130, Archaeology Centre, 19 Ursula Franklin Street.

Dr Georgiou’s lecture focuses on a small yet striking group of storage vessels dating to the 13th–12th centuries BC, distinguished by their pictorial friezes in relief. These friezes depict dynamic scenes of chariot hunting, animal combat, and confrontations involving warriors, lions, and griffins—imagery that stands out within the broader ceramic repertoire of Late Bronze Age Cyprus.

Through a comprehensive examination of this corpus, the talk aims to shed light on the messages, meanings, and symbolic frameworks embedded in these relief compositions. While their significance would have been immediately legible to contemporary viewers, their interpretation today remains challenging. Dr Georgiou’s work seeks to bridge this gap, offering new insights into how these vessels communicated identity, status, ideology, and social narratives within their ancient contexts.

Sources:
– ComPAS