Engraved Gems

Ben van den Bercken is an archaeologist and former assistant-curator Engraved Gems at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden. His work on the collection of engraved gems include contributions to the collection’s history, Egyptian scarabs and cylinders seals. As an archaeologist he is working at excavations in Alexandria, Egypt. Vivian Baan studied Classics (Latin and ancient Greek languages and cultures) in Leiden. In her Master Classics and Ancient Civilisations she focused on museology, epigraphy and social history. She is now working at the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, as an editor and executive assistant to the director.

Preface

Wim Weijland, director Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

 

Introduction

Ben van den Bercken (assistant curator Engraved Gems, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden)

 

1. Roman Gems in Old Collections and in Modern Archaeology

Martin Henig (member of the Faculty of Classics at University of Oxford and honorary professor at University College London)

 

2. Cassandra on Seals. Ring Stone Images as Self-Representation: an Example

Marianne Kleibrink (professor emeritus Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology, Groningen University)

 

3. Some Cameos in Leiden – Roman to Neoclassicism

Gertrud Platz-Horster (former vice director Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)

 

4. The Original RMO Engraved Gem Collection: Gem Identification and Applied Research Techniques

Hanco Zwaan and Christine Swaving (Naturalis Biodiversity Center/Netherlands Gemmological Laboratory, Leiden)

 

5. An Important Collection of Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals.

Diederik J.W. Meijer (associate professor Near Eastern Archaeology, Leiden University)

 

6. Sasanian Seals: Owners and Re-users

Rika Gyselen (directeur de recherche CNRS, émérite, Mondes iranien et indien)

 

7. Invocations to Hermes and Aphrodite on Two Engraved Gems in Leiden

Attilio Mastrocinque (professor of Roman history, University of Verona)

 

8. The Importance of Gems in the Work of Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640

Marcia Pointon (professor emeritus in History of Art, University of Manchester)

 

9. Post-Classical Cameos, their Makers and Users

Claudia Wagner (senior research lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford)

 

10. Princely Splendour: Some Cameo Vessels from the Middle of the Seventeenth Century and their Patrons

Jørgen Hein (senior curator of the Royal Danish Collection at Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen)

 

11. “A Treasure, a Schoolmaster, a Pass-Time” Dactyliothecae in the 18th and 19th Centuries and their Function as Teaching Aids in Schools and Universities

Valentin Kockel (professor emeritus for Classical Archaeology, University of Augsburg)

 

12. Non Grylloi, Baskania Sunt. On the Significance of the So Called Grylloi/Grilli or Grylli in Greek and Roman Glyptics

Carina Weiss, (independent researcher, Archaeological Institute of the University of Würzburg)

 

13. Another Perspective on the So Called Grylloi

Selkit Verberk (assistant curator Engraved Gems, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden)

 

14. Some Unpublished Scarabs from the Leiden Collection

Ben van den Bercken (assistant curator Engraved Gems, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden)