University of Cambridge seeks a Research Associate who will be one of four postdoctoral researchers on the ERC funded 'Impact of the Ancient City' project led by the Principal Investigator Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill. The project will re-examine the impact of the ancient, Greco-Roman city on subsequent urban history in Europe and the Islamic world, investigating both the urban fabric and urban ideals. Bringing together researchers trained in historical, archaeological and literary analysis, the project spans the entire Mediterranean region from Greco-Roman antiquity to the present day. The research team will investigate case histories in the western and the eastern Mediterranean, and pose a set of questions about how urban forms responded to changing social needs.

This Research Associate will examine the resilience of the urban fabric in the eastern Mediterranean, tracing the impact of ancient forms on subsequent Byzantine and Islamic configurations, with special attention to the different trajectories of particular cities. The successful candidate will select his or her own case studies that will range across the Eastern Mediterranean, excluding Greece and Constantinople/Istanbul, but including Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine and Egypt.

The successful candidate is expected to work as part of a team based in Cambridge, discussing findings and problems with the other members of the project team. The successful candidate will be expected to spend up to three months in each of the first three years of research on fieldwork visits for the case studies, as well as taking part in regular meetings and seminars in Cambridge, and the three annual conferences. They will publish the results of their research within the publication programme of the project.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 years in the first instance.