The Furniture and Furnishings of Ancient Greek Houses and Tombs

In this book, Dimitra Andrianou analyses the furniture and furnishings found in late Classical and Hellenistic houses, tombs, and inscriptions of ancient Greece. Questioning the wealth of images of furniture as portrayed on vases, she focuses on the actual remains of furniture found in houses; analyses the symbolic nature of elaborate furniture used every day and in the afterlife; discusses their types and uses in houses, tombs, and sanctuaries; and assembles their ancient vocabulary. The material evidence has been gathered from sites throughout the entire area of Greece that was ruled by the Macedonian kings and is supported by material and literary comparanda from contemporary neighbouring sites. "...this book represents a noble effort to take on a seemingly impossible task--the elusive study of the perishable, portable, and multi-functional furnishings of Late Classical and Hellenistic Greece. It supersedes the author's two Hesperia articles on the same subject by offering greater breadth and depth of discussion as well as additional evidence. Andrianou's work brings together and makes accessible many new finds previously published only in preliminary excavation reports, many of them in Greek. Scholars studying furniture from this period no longer have to synthesize evidence scattered throughout various site monographs and reports. This book will become a standard reference also for discussions of furniture terminology and value, as reflected in epigraphic sources, and it makes original contributions to scholarship on cult furniture and Macedonian luxury." --Elizabeth Baughan, University of Richmond, BMCR1. Historiography; 2. Furniture; 3. Furnishings; 4. Sacred furniture in treasure lists; 5. Conclusion - furniture, luxury and funerary symbolism in Macedonia.