A Carving in Antioch: History, Magic, Antiquarianism, Archaeology

This chapter explores how different people at different times have attempted to explain the origins and purpose of an ancient rock-cut monument in the outskirts of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Antakya, Turkey). It expounds different ways in which people have made sense of the carving as a physical trace of the past. Using narratives written in Greek, Arabic, and English between the sixth and the twenty-first century CE, it probes different episodes in the long-term history of the monument’s interpretation. In doing so, it aims to trouble the distinction keeping scien-tific—specifically archaeological—inquiry fully separate from its allegedly illegitimate—magical or folkloric—counterparts.