Hellenic World and the East

The Programme “Hellenic World and the East” focused on the interdisciplinary study of the contacts between ancient Hellenism and the peoples of the Near East—a cutting-edge field of modern classical research which, despite its particular importance for the history of the Hellenic and Greco-Roman world, has a very limited representation in the Greek scholarly community.

Research focused on East–West interactions, as attested in literary, epigraphic, and numismatic sources, and reflected in art, architecture, and material culture, particularly in the regions of Palestine, Arabia, and the Sinai, as well as the Aegean and Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Iran. The Programme aimed both at creating archives and publishing corpora of primary testimonia, and at producing synthetic studies.

The main research themes of the Programme’s members included:
• the study of primary evidence for the history of those regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East where the Greek element was active.
• the transmission of ideas, customs, practices, institutions, and knowledge among peoples.
• the transformation of cultural characteristics within the multicultural environment of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East.
• the role of the “universal” states of the Achaemenids, Alexander and the Successors, Rome, and the Sasanians in fostering interaction between the Greco-Roman and Eastern worlds.

Short history of the Programme

The Programme was founded in 1980 as the Palestine Programme, directed by I. Meimaris, focusing on the history, archaeology, and epigraphy of Palestine, Arabia, and the Sinai Peninsula during the Roman and early Byzantine periods. In 1985, K. Kritikakou-Nikolaropoulou joined the Programme (remaining a member until her passing in 2023), while P. Bougia participated from 1987 to 1991.

The geographically and thematically expanded framework of the “Hellenic World and the East” Programme developed gradually over time. In 2001, the Palestine Programme merged with the Greek and Roman East Programme (established in 1985 by G. Fowden) to form a unified Greek East Programme, directed successively by I. Meimaris (2001–2008) and G. Fowden (2009–2013). New research areas were added owing to the arrival (from 2003 to 2009) of new members specializing in Asia Minor (Ch. Kokkinia), Syria (A. Bousdroukis), Cyprus (A. Zournatzi, Ch. Kokkinia, E. Markou, with contributions from the former KERA Director M. B. Hatzopoulos), and the Achaemenid Empire and Greco-Iranian relations (A. Zournatzi).

Past Members of the Programme

Current Researchers at the SGRA

Antigoni Zournatzi, Director of Research, Former Program Coordinator

Christina Kokkinia, Director of Research

Evangeline Markou, Senior Researcher

Functional Scientific Personnel

Kalliopi Kretikakou †

Research Directors Emeriti and Former Researchers

Yiannis E. Meimaris, Research Director Emer., Former Head of Programme (1980-2008)

Garth Fowden (1985-2013), Director of Research, Former Head of Programme (2009-2013)

Apostolos Bousdroukis, Assistant Researcher (2009-2010)

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Giorgos Bourogiannis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2018-xx)

Michael Iliakis, Postdoctoral External Scientific Collaborator (2017–xx)

Seyedabazar Shobairi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2018–xx)

Collaborators (under their earlier titles)

Helen Athanassiou, Research Collaborator (2014-2015)

Constantine Ananiades, Postgraduate Research Collaborator (2006-2008), Postdoctoral Research Collaborator (2014-2015)

Demetrios Gerothanassis, Research Collaborator (2014-2015)

Myrto Malouta, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010)

Kyriaki Mavrommataki, External Scientific Collaborator (2006-2008)

Polyxeni Bougia, External Research Collaborator (1987-1991) †

Giorgos Bourogiannis, Postdoctoral Researcher (2014-2015)

Pagona Papadopoulou, Postdoctoral Researcher (2014)

Vassiliki Psilakakou, Research Collaborator (2014-2015)

Elizabeth Key Fowden, Research Collaborator (until 2012)

Seyedabazar Shobairi, Postgraduate Research Collaborator (2014-2015)