Evans-Pritchard Lecture Series 2026
The Reinvention of Rule: Political Leadership and Legitimacy in the Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 1200–600 BC
Dr Marco Santini, The University of Edinburgh
This series of five lectures proposes an overarching interpretation of key political developments that characterized Greece, Anatolia, and the Levant during the period called the Iron Age (ca. 1200–600 BC). By overcoming traditional disciplinary divides between Classical and Near Eastern Studies, the lectures will show that significant common patterns can be detected across the three regions, disproving widespread views that the political development of early Greece followed a peculiar and unparalleled trajectory. By emphasizing the Mediterranean dimension of early Greek history, and by positing the existence of a shared, coherent system of political thought and practice across Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean societies, the lectures will make the case for a new understanding of the so-called foundations of “western civilization.”
Lecture 2: War for Power and the Power of War: Charismatic Leaders in the Iron Age Levant
6th May 2026, 5:00 pm
Location: Old Library
The second lecture analyzes Iron Age socio-political transformations in the Levant, with a special focus on early Israel. The social profile of the protagonists of political action is that of charismatic warlords, individuals able to recruit large groups of armed followers and to build networks of alliances with leaders of local communities, often in the form of patronage relations. This social type was already known during the Late Bronze Age, when it identified individuals who operated at the margins of the palatial systems. In the Canaanite highlands, rulership rested on unstable foundations until, by the mid-9th century, the Omrid family managed to establish a royal seat in Samaria. Stories which found their way into the Hebrew Bible provide the discursive foundations for the ethno-political identity of the newly consolidated kingdom of Israel and offer insights into contrasting views on the nature of political leadership that were current at the time.
For those joining remotely, the Teams link can be found here: https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/event/evans-pritchard-lectures-2026-lecture-2-war-power-and-power-war-charismatic-leaders-iron-age
