Eivind Heldaas Seland
- E-maileivind.seland@uib.no
- Phone+47 55 58 31 11
- Visitor AddressDokkevein 2bBergenRoom508
- Postal AddressPostboks 78055020 Bergen
Most of my research addresses how economy, political power, and ideology/religion interacted in early states/complex societies in the the ancient world. In particular I work with the Indian Ocean/Red Sea region and the Near East, but I am also interested in the Mediterranean and Central Asia.
Currently I am investigating how the physical environment influenced travel and communication along both sea and land routes. I also study how historians, archaeologists and paleoclimatologists have cast climate as an agent of historical change, in order to identify good models of climate-society interrelation.
2020-2022 I had the pleasure of supervising the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie-IF-projects of Francesca Mazzilli, Regional Religious Networks in the Roman Empire (RENE)and Tomas Glomb, Favorable Conditions of the Spread of the Cult of Asclepius across the Transportation Network of the Roman Mediterranean: A Quantitative Evaluation (ASCNET).
With colleagues I have been co-organizing the exploratory workshop series: Globalization, Urbanization and Urban Religion in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Roman and Early Islamic periods, funded by The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (2018-2019).
2013 to 2017 I was principal investigtor of the project "Mechanisms of cross-cultural interaction: Networks in the Roman Near East", funded by the Research council of Norway. The project investigated networks of commercial, religious and political nature within and across fluctuating imperial borders in the Near East in the Roman period. My postdoc was on the trade of Palmyra, Syria and how it related to the different overland and maritime networks of the ancient world. I have also worked with Indian Ocean trade and global history, and continue to engage with all these topics.
My research is also featured in this piece on the UiB web-pages.
My Norwegian-language blog, globalhistorie.blogspot.com, is only updated occasionally, but I post much of my popular-history writing there.
- 2022. Food security in Roman Palmyra (Syria) in light of paleoclimatological evidence and its historical implications. PLOS ONE. 17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273241
- 2021. A global history of the ancient world. Asia, Europe and Africa before Islam. Routledge. ISBN: 9781003142263.
- 2021. Scaling up and zooming in: global history and high-definition archaeology perspectives on the longue durée of urban–environmental relations in Gerasa (Jerash, Jordan). Journal of Global History. 16: 395-414. doi: 10.1017/S1740022821000012
- 2019. Urban-Riverine Hinterland Synergies in Semi-Arid Environments: Millennial-Scale Change, Adaptations, and Environmental Responses at Gerasa/Jerash. Journal of Field Archaeology. 44: 333-351. doi: 10.1080/00934690.2019.1625619
- 2016. Ships of the Desert and Ships of the Sea: Palmyra in the World Trade of the First Three Centuries CE. Harrassowitz Verlag. 128 pages. ISBN: 9783447107044.
- (2023). Modelling an Urban Hinterland The Case of Roman Palmyra. 18 pages.
- (2023). Historie, historiebruk og motkultur i Arbeidernes Leksikon. Arbeiderhistorie. 45-61.
- (2022). The Paradox of Palmyra: An Ancient anomalopolis in the Desert. Journal of Urban Archaeology (JUA). 177-189.
- (2022). The Classical World in a Norwegian Workers' Encyclopedia: Arbeidernes Leksikon (1931–1936). Clotho. 29-45.
- (2022). Spaces, Places and Things. The Spatial Dimension of Early Indian Ocean Exchange . 16 pages.
- (2022). Markets in the Erythra Thalassa. 10 pages.
- (2022). Food security in Roman Palmyra (Syria) in light of paleoclimatological evidence and its historical implications. PLOS ONE.
- (2022). Caravans in Palmyrene tesserae? How to tell a pack camel from a steed of war? 6 pages.
- (2021). Urbanization and Riverine Hinterlands: A Proposal for an Integrative High-Definition and Multi-Scalar Approach to Understanding Ancient Cities and their Dynamic Natural Resources. Journal of Urban Archaeology (JUA). 33-59.
- (2021). Trade, Traders, and Religion in Gateway-Cities of the Roman East. Religion in the Roman Empire. 297-312.
- (2021). Scaling up and zooming in: global history and high-definition archaeology perspectives on the longue durée of urban–environmental relations in Gerasa (Jerash, Jordan). Journal of Global History. 395-414.
- (2021). Local Dynamics of Globalization in the Roman Near East: The case of Palmyra. 18 pages.
- (2021). Hva er globalhistorie.
- (2021). Horses and Camels in Palmyrene Art: Iconography, Contexts and Meanings. Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie. 300-344.
- (2021). Associations and Interactions in Urban Networks of the Roman Near East. Journal of Urban Archaeology (JUA). 131-136.
- (2021). A kinship network analysis of Palmyrene genealogies. Journal of Historical Network Research (JHNR). 41-84.
- (2021). A global history of the ancient world. Asia, Europe and Africa before Islam. Routledge.
- (2020). The rise of the merchant princes? Scale, status, and wealth in Palmyrene trade. 10 pages.
- (2020). Methods and models in ancient history. Essays in honor of Jørgen Christian Meyer. Norwegian Institute at Athens.
- (2020). Coastal and high-sea passages in ancient Red Sea navigation: combining GIS with common-sense geography. 10 pages.
- (2020). Climate Change in Urban Biographies: Stage, Event, Agent. Journal of Urban Archaeology (JUA). 187-196.
- (2020). A raft, a ship and a lighthouse in the desert. Fluvial and maritime graffiti from ancient Palmyra. Syria. Archéologie, art et histoire. 305-314.
- (2019). Urban-Riverine Hinterland Synergies in Semi-Arid Environments: Millennial-Scale Change, Adaptations, and Environmental Responses at Gerasa/Jerash. Journal of Field Archaeology. 333-351.
- (2019). Travelling the treacherous seas: pirates, storms and sirens. 376-392. In:
- (2019). Silk Roads. Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes. Thames & Hudson.
- (2019). The Trade of Palmyra. 127-136. In:
- (2019). The Road to Palmyra.
- (2019). Religion and Early Trade in the Western Indian Ocean: Ideology and Knowledge Exchanges Across the Indian Ocean World. 15 pages.
- (2019). Portable Religion and the Palmyrene Diaspora. 8 pages.
- (2019). Als Indien das Römische Reich entdeckte. Exploration und Handel im Indischen Ozean vom Osten aus gesehen. 12 pages.
- (2018). Å arbeidet med materielle kilder. 21 pages.
- (2018). Nomads and caravan trade in the Syrian Desert". . 21 pages.
- (2018). Limbs of the Light Mind. The social world of a Manichaean community in fourth-century Egypt.
- (2018). From the Fjords to the Nile: Essays in Honor of Richard Holton Pierce on his 80th Birthday. Archaeopress.
- (2017). Tøffe valg med store konsekvenser: Historiske fortellinger i norsk klimapolitikk. 11 pages.
- (2017). The iconography of caravan trade in Palmyra and the Roman Near East. Scientia Danica Series H. Humanistica. 4. 106-114.
- (2017). The Archaeological Record of Indian Ocean Engagements in the Red Sea. 45 pages.
- (2017). Sinews of empire and the relational turn in classical scholarship. 1 pages.
- (2017). Sinews of Empire: Networks in the Roman Near East and beyond. Oxbow Books.
- (2017). Reiser til Tadmor: Historie og kulturarv i Palmyra og Midtøsten/Journeys to Tadmor: History and heritage in Palmyra and the Middle East.
- (2017). Gemstones and Mineral Products in the Red Sea / Indian Ocean Trade of the First Millennium. RGZM - Tagungen. 45-58.
- (2017). Approaching trade in pre-state and early state societies. 11 pages.
- (2016). Trade diasporas and merchant social cohesion in early trade in the western Indian Ocean. 13 pages.
- (2016). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: A Network Approach. Asian Review of World Histories. 191-205.
- (2016). Ships of the Desert and Ships of the Sea: Palmyra in the World Trade of the First Three Centuries CE.
- (2016). Palmyrena: City, Hinterland and Caravan Trade Between Orient and Occident: Proceedings of the Conference Held in Athens, December 1-3, 2012. Archaeopress.
- (2016). Palmyra and the trade-route to the Euphrates. ARAM. 497-523.
- (2016). Here, there and Everywhere: A Network Approach to Textile Trade in the Periplus Maris Erythraei. 10 pages.
- (2016). Ancient trading networks and new institutional economics: the case of Palmyra. 12 pages.
- (2015). Writ in water, lines in sand: Ancient trade routes, models and comparative evidence. Cogent Arts & Humanities. 1-11.
- (2015). Preconditions of Palmyrene Long-distance trade: Land, River, and Maritime routes in the first three centuries CE.
- (2015). Camels, Camel Nomadism and the Practicalities of Palmyrene Caravan Trade. ARAM. 45-53.
- (2015). Antikkens Globale Verden.
- (2014). The organisation of the Palmyrene caravan trade. Ancient West and East. 197-211.
- (2014). Early Christianity in East Africa and Red Sea/Indian Ocean Commerce [Les débuts du Christianisme en Afrique de l’est et le commerce de la mer Rouge et de l’Océan Indien]. African Archaeological Review. 637-647.
- (2014). Caravans, Smugglers and Trading Fairs: Organizing Textile Trade on the Syrian Frontier. 9 pages.
- (2014). Archaeology of Trade in the Western Indian Ocean, 300 BC-AD 700. Journal of Archaeological Research. 367-402.
- (2013). Networks and social cohesion in ancient Indian Ocean trade: geography, ethnicity, religion. Journal of Global History. 373-390.
- (2013). Ancient Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean: Maritime Links of the Kushan Empire ca 50-200 CE. Journal of Indian Ocean Archeology. 61-69.
- (2013). : Antikkforskning som faghistorie. 19 pages.
- (2012). Trade and Christianity in the Indian Ocean during Late Antiquity. Journal of Late Antiquity. 72-86.
- (2012). The Liber Pontificalis and Red Sea Trade of the Early to Mid 4th Century AD. 10 pages.
- (2012). Globalhistorisk atlas.
- (2012). Death or taxes? Choosing itineraries between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean in the mid-18th century. Akademisk Kvarter. 97-108.
- (2011). Ørkenens skip: Kamelen og den første transportrevolusjonen. REPLIKK – Tidsskrift for samfunnsvitskap og humaniora. 65-72.
- (2011). The Persian Gulf or the Red Sea? Two axes in ancient Indian Ocean trade, where to go and why. World archaeology. 398-409.
- (2011). Kameler og kamelkaravaner i romersk kunst. Klassisk Forum. 45-53.
- (2011). Antikken Globale Verden: Asia, Europa og Afrika før islam.
- (2010). Ports and political power in the periplus: complex societies and maritime trade on the Indian Ocean in the first century AD.
- (2010). Palmyra : karavanehandel og geopolitikk i romersk Syria. Klassisk Forum. 54-69.
- (2009). Shipwreck, Maroons and Monsters: The Hazards of Ancient Red Sea Navigation. 7 pages.
- (2009). Ptolemaiere på elefantjakt. Klassisk Forum. 95-106.
- (2009). Antikk økonomi og moderne historie. Fortid. 19-25.
- (2008). Trade routes of Palmyra, with special notes on western routes in Palmyrene trade. 10 pages.
- (2008). The Indian Ships at Moscha and the Indo-Arabian trading circuit. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 283-288.
- (2008). The Indian Ocean and the Globalisation of the Ancient World. Ancient West & East. 65-77.
- (2008). Taxation of ancient Indian Ocean trade. Journal of Indian Ocean Archeology. 18-30.
- (2008). Antikkens globale verden: Asia, Europa og Afrika før Islam. Portal forlag.
- (2007). The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period: Definite Places, translocal exchange. Archaeopress.
- (2007). Red Sea and Indian Ocean: Ports and their hinterland. 8 pages.
- (2007). Ports, Ptolemy, Periplus and Poetry - Romans in Tamil South India and on the Bay of Bengal. 14 pages.
- (2007). Definite places, translocal exchange - an introduction. 6 pages.
- (2007). Definite places, translocal exchange. 5 pages.
- (2006). The Roman Attack on Aden: an unintended result of successful propaganda. Symbolae Osloenses - Norwegian Journal of Greek and Latin Studies. 60-67.
- (2006). Indian Ocean in Antiquity: trade and the emerging state.
- (2005). The Periplus' report of a Roman attack on Aden an unintended result of successful propaganda? Symbolae Osloenses - Norwegian Journal of Greek and Latin Studies. 60-67.
- (2005). Langs Romerrikets grense i øst. Historie. 46-55.
- (2005). Fra Hav til Hafrsfjord - Utstein før Harald Hårfagre. 35 pages.
- (2005). Ancient South Arabia: trade and strategies of state control as seen in the Periplus Maris Erythraei. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 271-280.
More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)
2020-2022 I supervise the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie-IF-projects of Francesca Mazzilli, Regional Religious Networks in the Roman Empire and Tomas Glomb, Favorable Conditions of the Spread of the Cult of Asclepius across the Transportation Network of the Roman Mediterranean: A Quantitative Evaluation.
Globalization, Urbanization and Urban Religion in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Roman and Early Islamic periods. Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) exploratory workshops grant (partner 2018-2019)
Mechanisms of cross-cultural interaction: Networks in the Roman Near East (Project manager 2013-2016)
Local dynamics of globalization in the pre-modern Levant (core group member 2014-15)
Palmyrena: City, Hinterland and Caravan Trade between Orient and Occident (Postdoc 2009-2012)