Caitie Barrett

Associate Professor

Overview

Caitlín Eilís (Caitie) Barrett is an archaeologist who investigates everyday life, religious experience, and cross-cultural interactions in the ancient Mediterranean. She is currently co-directing an excavation at Pompeii – the Casa della Regina Carolina (CRC) Project (http://blogs.cornell.edu/crcpompeii), a joint Italian/American project sponsored by Cornell University and the University of Bologna – and working on a new book about the archaeology of ancient Greek household religion. 

Dr. Barrett has published extensively on interactions between Egypt and the Greco-Roman world. Her first book, Egyptianizing Figurines from Delos: A Study in Hellenistic Religion (Brill, 2011), investigated religious change and cultural hybridization in the household through a study of locally-made "Egyptianizing" terracotta figurines from the Hellenistic trading port of Delos. Her second book, Domesticating Empire: Egyptian Landscapes in Pompeian Gardens (Oxford University Press, 2019), is the first contextually-oriented monograph on Egyptian imagery from Roman domestic contexts. Most recently, her co-edited volume Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (Cornell University Press, 2023) is the first synthetic book-length study of houses and households from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. 

Dr. Barrett's work has received national and international grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Geographic Society, the Fulbright Foundation, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Philosophical Society, the American Research Center in Egypt, Dumbarton Oaks, the International Catacomb Society, the Rust Family Foundation, and Sigma Xi, among other sources; and at Cornell, her work has been supported by the Classics Department, the Cornell Institute for Archaeology and Material Studies (CIAMS), the Einaudi Center, the Grants Program for Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences, the Midas-Croesus Fund, the President’s Council of Cornell Women, the Provost's Special Research Fund, and the Society for the Humanities. In 2014, she received the Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Award for Excellence in Advising in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, and 2022, she received a Rosenthal Advancement Award. In addition to her current field project at Pompeii, she has excavated and surveyed at a range of Bronze Age through early modern sites in Italy, Egypt, Greece, and the United States. 

Dr. Barrett teaches a range of graduate and undergraduate courses on topics related to Mediterranean and Egyptian archaeology; the "Hellenistic" world; Egypt in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods; Greco-Roman interactions with Egypt; ancient religion and ritual; and the ancient Egyptian language and hieroglyphic script. She welcomes applications from graduate students in Classics, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Near Eastern Studies. 

For further information about Dr. Barrett's research, see also: 

Publications

MONOGRAPHS

  • Domesticating Empire: Egyptian Landscapes in Pompeian Gardens (2019). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. [430 pp. + 100 figures]
  • Egyptianizing Figurines from Delos: A Study in Hellenistic Religion (2011). Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition 36. Leiden/Boston: Brill. [731 pp. + 80 plates]

EDITED VOLUMES

  • Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (2023), eds. C. Barrett and J. Carrington. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [351 pp.]
  • Figurines grecques en contexte: Présence muette dans le sanctuaire, la tombe et la maison (2015), eds. S. Huysecom-Haxhi and A. Muller (editors-in-chief) and C. Aubry, C. Barrett, C. Blume, and T. Kopestonsky (collaborating editors). Archaiologia. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. [534 pp.]

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS

  • "Magical Gems as Material Texts" (forthcoming). In Textual Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: Are We Doing It Wrong?, ed. Y. Heffron. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 
  • "The Affordances of Terracotta Figurines in Domestic Contexts: Reconsidering the Gap between Material and Ritual" (2024). In Stuff of the Gods: The Material Aspects of Religion in Ancient Greece, eds. M. Haysom, M. Mili, and J. Wallensten. Athens: Swedish Institute at Athens, 111–132. [22 pp.]
  • "Leisure and Labor in a Pompeian Garden: The Casa della Regina Carolina Project (VIII 3, 14) 2022 Field Season" (with K. Gleason, L. Graña, and A. Marzano, with additional contributions by E. Allen, R. Ferritto, D. Langgut, E. Lime, L. Magno, M. Robinson, and K. Tally-Schumacher). Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 34 (2023: 257–265. [9 pp.] 
  • "Houses, Households, and Homes: Toward an Archaeology of Dwelling" (2023). In Households in Contexts: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, eds. C. Barrett and J. Carrington, 1–46. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [46 pp.]
  • "Afterword: Strong at the Broken Places?" (2023) In Breaking Images: Damage and Mutilation of Ancient Figurines, ed. G. Miniaci, 306–315. Oxford: Oxbow. [10 pp.]
  • "A 'New' (Rediscovered) Nilotic Scene from the Casa del Gemmario: Context, Iconography, and Sub-Elite Viewership" (with N. Bellucci). Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 33 (2023): 89–109. [21 pp.]
  • "Recontextualizing Nilotic Scenes: Interactive Landscapes in the Garden of the Casa dell’Efebo, Pompeii.” American Journal of Archaeology 121 (2017): 293-332. [40 pp.]
  • "The Casa della Regina Carolina (CRC) Project, Pompeii: Preliminary Report on 2018 and 2019 Field Seasons" (with K. Gleason and A. Marzano, with additional contributions by D. Langgut) (2020). FOLD&R (Fasti OnLine Documents & Research) Italy, https://www.fastionline.org/docs/FOLDER-it-2020-492.pdf. [29 pp.]
  • "Egypt in Roman Visual and Material Culture" (2017). In G. Williams (ed.), Oxford Handbooks Online in Classical Studies. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. (http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-18) [43 pp.]
  • "Recontextualizing Nilotic Scenes: Interactive Landscapes in the Garden of the Casa dell'Efebo, Pompeii." American Journal of Archaeology 121 (2017): 293–332. [40 pp.]
  • "Archaeology of Ancient Religions" (2016). In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, eds. J. Barton et al. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. (http://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-48) [24 pp.]
  • "Avant-propos" (with C. Aubry, C. Blume, S. Huysecom-Haxhi, T. Kopestonsky, and A. Muller) (2015). In Figurines grecques en contexte: Présence muette dans le sanctuaire, la tombe et la maison, eds. S. Huysecom-Haxhi et al., 7-9. Archaiologia. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. [3 pp.]
  • "Terracotta Figurines and the Archaeology of Ritual: Domestic Cult in Greco-Roman Egypt" (2015). In Figurines grecques en contexte: Présence muette dans le sanctuaire, la tombe et la maison, eds. S. Huysecom-Haxhi et al., 401-420. Archaiologia. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. [20 pp.]
  • "Harpocrates on Rheneia: Two Egyptian Figurines from the Necropolis of Delos" (2015). In Figurines de terre cuite en Méditerranée orientale grecque et romaine. II: Iconographie et contextes, eds. E. Laflı and A. Muller, 187-200. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion.
  • "Material Evidence for Ancient Greek Religion" (2015). In Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion, eds. E. Eidinow and J. Kindt, 113-130. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [18 pp.]
  • "Hellenistic and Roman Egypt" (2015). In D.L. Clayman (ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Classics. New York: Oxford University Press. [87 pp.]
  • "The Perceived Value of Minoan and Minoanizing Pottery in Egypt" (2009). Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 22.2: 211-234. [24 pp.]
  • "Was Dust Their Food and Clay Their Bread? Grave Goods, the Mesopotamian Afterlife, and the Liminal Role of Inana/Ishtar" (2007). Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 7: 7-65. [59 pp.]

OTHER ARTICLES, BRIEF ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES, AND ENTRIES IN MUSEUM CATALOGS

  • “Casa della Regina Carolina, Regio VIII.3.14” (2020). K.L. Gleason, C.E. Barrett, and A. Marzano. Fasti Online (http://www.fastionline.org/excavation/micro_view.php?fst_cd=AIAC_4667&curcol=sea_cd-AIAC_10402). 
  • Multiple entries (2018) in Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World, eds. J. Spier et al., 250, 252–253, 272, 276-277, no. 174. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. 
  • "Figurines" (with E. Darby) (2016). In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, ed. E. Orlin, 344-346. New York: Routledge. [3 pp.]
  • "Harpokrates" (2016). In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, ed. E. Orlin, 388. New York: Routledge. [1 p.]
  • "Gems" (with V. Platt) (2015). In Cornell Collection of Antiquities, ed. A. Alexandridis and V. Platt (http://antiquities.stg.library.cornell.edu/gems). [3 pp.]
  • "Plaster Perspectives on 'Magical Gems': Rethinking the Meaning of 'Magic' in Cornell's Dactyliotheca" (2015). In Cornell Collection of Antiquities, ed. A. Alexandridis and V. Platt (http://antiquities.stg.library.cornell.edu/gems/plaster-perspectives-on-magical-gems). 
  • "Terracotta Figurines of Harpocrates from Greco-Roman Egypt" (2013). In C.M. Manassa (ed.), Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs (http://echoesofegypt.peabody.yale.edu/overview/harpocrates-figurines). Online exhibit catalog for a 2013-2014 exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum. [4 pp.]
  • "'Campana' Relief with Roman Nilotic Landscape" (2013). In C.M. Manassa (ed.), Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs (http://echoesofegypt.peabody.yale.edu/overview/campana-relief-roman-nilotic-landscape). Online exhibit catalog for a 2013-2014 exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum. [3 pp.]
  • "Egyptianizing Graeco-Roman Objects" (with C.M. Manassa) (2013). In C.M. Manassa (ed.), Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs, pp. 15-16 [print edition]. New Haven: Yale Peabody Museum. Exhibit catalog for a 2013-2014 exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum. [2 pp.]

INVITED BOOK REVIEWS

  • Review (2023) of A.L. Boozer, At Home in Roman Egypt: A Social Archaeology. Journal of Roman Studies 113: 2643–265. [2 pp.]
  • "Between Meroe and Rome: Nubian People, Practices, and Inscriptions at the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae" (2022). Review of S. Ashby, Calling Out to Isis: The Enduring Nubian Presence at Philae. Journal of Roman Archaeology 35.1: 469–481. [13 pp.]
  • Review (2020) of S.R. Martin and S.M. Langin-Hooper, eds., The Tiny and the Fragmented: Miniature, Broken, or Otherwise Incomplete Objects in the Ancient World. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Studies 79.2: 360–365. [5 pp.]
  • Review (2013) of M. Trümper, Die 'Agora des Italiens' in Delos: Baugeschichte, Architektur, Ausstattung und Funktion einer späthellenistischen Porticus-Anlage. Journal of Hellenic Studies 133: 116-117. [2 pp.]
  • Review (2012) of B. Rabe, Zwischen Entwurf und Produkt: Die griechisch-römischen Gipsformen aus Ägypten im Museum August Kestner, Hannover. Coroplastic Studies Interest Group Book Reviews (http://www.coroplasticstudies.org/reviews-rabe.html).

NOTES, RESEARCH REPORTS, AND BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

  • "Nilotic Scenes, Egyptian Religion, and Roman Perceptions" (2013). Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 5: 3-5. [3 pp.]
  • "Recent Research in Greco-Egyptian Interactions" (2012). Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 4:4. [1 p.]
  • "Egyptian Imagery in Hellenistic Bulgaria: Lamps from the Thracian City of Seuthopolis" (2010). CSIG News: Newsletter of the Coroplastic Studies Interest Group 4: 17. [1 p.]
  • "Religious Syncretism in Egyptianizing Terracotta Figurines from Delos" (2009). CSIG News: Annual Newsletter of the Coroplastic Studies Interest Group 1: 10. [1 p.]

 

In the news

Image of Caitie Barrett
120 Goldwin Smith Hall
ceb329@cornell.edu

Education

PhD in Anthropology (Archaeology Subfield), Yale University, 2009

BA in Anthropology (Archaeology Subfield), summa cum laude, Harvard University, 2003

Departments and programs

  • Anthropology
  • Classics
  • Jewish Studies Program
  • Near Eastern Studies
  • Religious Studies Program

Affiliated Colleges

  • College of Arts and Sciences

Links

Keywords

 

 

Mediterranean archaeology, Greek and Roman archaeology, Egyptian archaeology, Egypt under Ptolemaic and Roman rule, archaeology of religion and ritual, household archaeology, household religion, connectivity, cross-cultural interactions, Hellenistic period, Roman empire, Hieroglyphic Egyptian language, Pompeii