Hoff to present AIA lecture Dec. 5 on Antiochia ad Cragum excavation

calendar icon28 Nov 2018    

Lincoln, Neb.—University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Art, Art History & Design Professor of Art History Michael Hoff will present a lecture titled “Mosaics, Baths and Pirate Treasure: The Excavations at Antiochia ad Cragum in Asia Minor” on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15.

The lecture is part of a series for the Lincoln-Omaha Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America and is free and open to the public.

Since 2005, the Roman-era site of Antiochia ad Cragum has been undergoing excavation by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The city was founded on the site of a former late Hellenistic base of the famed Cilician pirates, who preyed upon shipping in the Mediterranean. A few remnants of this pirate past have been recovered by the archaeologists. After the pirate scourge ended, the city was founded by and ally of Rome, Antiochus IV of Commagene, in the first century.

This talk explores the early history of the city, its pirate past and the extraordinary mosaics discovered at the site. In particular, this lecture will be the first forum in which the 2018 discoveries will announced, including an important new mosaic; a mythological scene found in the latrine whose figures reflect the appropriately humorous bathroom setting; and a mysterious victim of the late Roman period whose body was found in a Roman bath building. And finally, the discovery of a major coin hoard comprised of more than 3,000 mainly silver coins may be loot from another era of pirates.

Hoff specializes in Greek and Roman archaeology in which he conducts his research on the archaeology of Asia Minor.  He has excavated in Wales, and Greece in the Athenian Agora, Corinth, Crete, and at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea.

Hoff currently conducts research in Turkey where from 1997 to 2004, he co-directed the architectural survey team of the Rough Cilicia Archaeological Survey Project, and since 2005, serves as Project Director of the Antiochia ad Cragum Excavations in Rough Cilicia on the south coast of Turkey.

Hoff was educated at the University of Missouri, Florida State University and received his Ph.D. from Boston University. He is currently Professor of Art History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where he has taught since 1989.