Saved from Desert Sands: Re-discovering Objects on the Silk Roads(18 East and West)

Saved from Desert Sands, edited by Kelsey Granger and Imre Galambos, unites historians, codicologists, art historians, archaeologists, and curators in the study of material culture on the Silk Roads. The re-discovery of forgotten manuscript archives and sand-buried cities in the twentieth century has brought to light thousands of manuscripts and artefacts. To date, textual content has largely been prioritised over physical objects and their materiality, but the material aspects of these objects are just as important. Focusing primarily on the material and non-textual, this volume presents studies on silver dishes, sealing systems, manuscripts, Buddhist paintings, and ceramics, all of which demonstrate the centrality of material culture in the study of the Silk Roads.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Conventions List of Illustrations Notes on the Contributors 1 Re-discovering Objects: Material Culture on the Silk Roads  Kelsey Granger and Imre Galambos 2 Insights into the Lives of Soldiers along the Hexi Corridor during the Western Han Dynasty  Arnaud Bertrand 3 Writing beyond Han Boundaries: A Scribal Primer at the Niya Site  Christopher J. Foster 4 Seals and Sealing Practices in the Kingdom of Kroraina  Tomas L. Høisæter 5 The Social Life of a Tang Silver Dish  Hajni Elias 6 A Pensive Prince or a Languid Lady? Tang Ceramics of Women Seated on Hourglass Stools  Kelsey Granger 7 Dali Daggers: Buddhist Material Culture on the Southern Silk Road  Megan Bryson 8 Reconsidering Stein Painting 14 of the Jinshan Kingdom in Tenth-Century Dunhuang  Luk Yu-ping 9 How to Handle a Scroll? Evidence from Pelliot Chinois 3812  Nadine Bregler 10 Manuscripts on the Move: A Codex’s Journey from Lingzhou to Dunhuang  Jing Feng 11 The Life and Afterlife of a Funerary Divination Scroll  Mélodie Doumy Index

About the Author :
Kelsey Granger, Ph.D., University of Cambridge, is an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellow at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. She focuses on material culture in seventh- to twelfth-century China with a particular interest in the commodification of the environment. Imre Galambos, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, is a specialist of medieval Chinese manuscripts, primarily focusing on material excavated from Dunhuang and Khara-khoto. He has published extensively on medieval Chinese manuscripts, approaching them from the perspective of codicology and palaeography.