N.D. (Nicholas) Aherne, MA

About

I am a first-year PhD Researcher in Archaeology and Classics at the Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen. My research investigates identity and relationships of individuals and communities of the Roman Empire, particularly through visual and material culture of the Eastern provinces.  Other interests of mine include epigraphy, the relationship between image and text, ancient religion, cult and festival activity. I have carried out fieldwork in Italy, Crete, Bulgaria and the UK.  

Research

 My PhD project is titled 'Encoffined Bodies: Decorated sarcophagi in funerary customs of Coastal Lebanon during the Roman period' 

In the second and third centuries AD the production and use of stone sarcophagi to memorialise the dead peaked in Lebanon. This development marks a wider shift in mortuary customs, whereby empire -wide trends in tomb contexts appeared in the provinces, indicating major transformation in how local communities regarded and utilised the funerary sphere. Thus far, scholarly focus on sarcophagi of Roman Lebanon has predominantly been concerned with status and their broader imperial context, and has applied approaches generally tailored to monuments from the centre i.e., Rome, Italy, and mainland Greece.  

This PhD investigates the functionality of the sarcophagi within their mortuary customs and ritual activities practiced by the mourning community. Consequently, it recontextualises the sarcophagi within their locally distinct context in Lebanon. Not only does this shine light upon local customs, values, and beliefs, but also, the socio-cultural development of Roman Lebanon in relation to the Roman Empire.  

I employ an interdisciplinary approach, examining various data categories and facets of the sarcophagi (material, shape, size, iconography, inscriptions) in order to optimally reconstruct the functionality of sarcophagi as containers for the dead and active agents within their ritual context. A particular aim of mine is to reconcile artistic and archaeological approaches to Roman death and burial.  

The central dataset comes from Coastal Lebanon and comparative studies with nearby regions will be carried out.

This PhD project belongs to the wider MARE (Mortuary Archaeology of the Roman East) Project under the supervision of PI, Professor L. de Jong. MARE - Mortuary Archaeology of the Roman East | University of Groningen (rug.nl) Over a period of five years (2021-2026), the MARE team investigates how local communities envisioned and reformulated their relationships with the dead. We will build a digital infrastructure to enhance legacy and orphaned datasets from coastal Lebanon, Palmyra, and Pisidia, as well as to unlock inaccessible collections for wider audiences.   

Qualifications and awards

• BA in Classical Civilisation at the University of Warwick (2019)
• MSt in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford (2021)
• Sloane-Robinson Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences — Lincoln College Scholarship, Oxford
• Lord Crewe Graduate Scholarship — Lincoln College Scholarship, Oxford
• 'Classics and Ancient History Award' 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick.