School of Historical Studies

Rubina Raja, Member (2019) in the School of Historical Studies, explains how archaeological context can transform understanding of ancient societies. By analyzing a "loose head" from Palmyra, Syria, once misidentified as the work of a Greek sculptor, she demonstrates how local craftsmen were not merely imitating foreign styles but creating distinct works, fundamentally reshaping our view of Palmyra's cultural identity.

In August 2024, the Institute’s Historical Studies - Social Science Library (HS-SS) received a gift that sparked a host of connections to be made between old and new titles in the library’s holdings: a copy of Old English Studies and its Scandinavian Practitioners: Nationalism, Aesthetics, and Spirituality in the Nordic Countries, 1733–2023, sent by its author Robert E. Bjork, Member (2004–05) in the School of Historical Studies.

A cooperation between the American University in Cairo (AUC) and five academic institutions, including the Institute for Advanced Study, has seen a rare archive documenting the al-Khanji family's cultural impact on early twentieth-century Cairo transferred to AUC. The unique collection, consisting of thousands of documents, reveals the family's significant role in the trade and publishing of manuscripts, offering unprecedented insights into the intellectual networks of the time.