GEMMIFER

GEMMIFER I – Gems in the eastern Mediterranean: Material, iconography, fabric, exchange and re-usage I: Main glyptic manufacturing centres in Anatolia and rest of the Mediterranean.

Organizers (in alphabetical order): Professor Sven Günther (Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province), Dr Martin Henig (University of Oxford), Professor Thomas R. Kämmerer (Ugarit-Verlag, Tecklenburg) and Professor Ergün Laflı (Izmir).

Focus: Art and archaeology of engraved gems from the Mediterranean landscapes between the seventh cent. BC and the seventh cent. AD with a focus on ancient Greek, Roman and Early Byzantine gems.

Date: April 17–19 (Friday–Sunday), 2026.

Venue: Online on Zoom and physically in Izmir, Turkey.

E-mail addresses: sveneca@aol.com, kaemmerer@ugarit-verlag.de, martin.henig@arch.ox.ac.uk

Conference location: To be clarified.

Post-conference excursions on April 18 and/or 19: Izmir skyline on the 50th rooftop floor of Ege Perla Tower A (where I live) and a small cocktail on its terrace, three archaeological museums in Izmir, citadel at Pagus, Roman theatre and ancient Agora of Smyrna or Greek island of Chios (with accomodation on the night of April 18) and back to Izmir through ferry at the Harbour of Çeşme.