New Publication: Excavating Antioch

The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press is proud to announce the publication of Excavating Antioch: The Archaeology of an Ancient City, edited by Nicole Berlin and Elizabeth Molacek. 

Dating back to 300 BC, Antioch-on-the-Orontes was a cosmopolitan center of trade, culture, and religion that ranked among the most important cities of the Roman Empire. A rich archaeological record comprising of ancient coins, mosaics, sculptures, and everyday objects have granted researchers an understanding of ancient urban life. Excavating Antioch builds upon this by exploring the artifacts uncovered from the once-bustling metropolis, as well as the colonial structures that enabled these excavations and the system of partage that dispersed the finds among partner institutions worldwide, producing a fragmented and ethically complicated legacy that has yet to be fully addressed.

The site has a long and harrowed history. In the 1930s, Princeton University led an excavation that left the artifacts dispersed and inconsistently displayed. Berlin and Molacek do fundamental work to interrogate this history, reuniting the artifacts in this volume and reassessing their significance and stories, often bringing to light artifacts that have never been published.

This publication accompanies an exhibition of the same name at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College, which reunites objects from the Baltimore Museum of Art, Dumbarton Oaks, the Harvard Art Museums, the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Worcester Art Museum.

ISBN: 978-1-950446-83-4
Publication Date: Sep 2026
Price: Hb $75.00, eBook $75.00

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About the editors

Nicole Berlin is the Associate Curator of Collections at the Davis Museum, Wellesley College, specializing in ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology. Her research focuses on Roman houses and mosaics. She co-leads the international Excavating Antioch project and serves as curator of the corresponding exhibition. Berlin has curated numerous exhibitions at the Davis, from early archaeological photography to ancient jewelry. Her research includes peer-reviewed publications on Roman mosaics, archaeological archives, and curatorial practice, with contributions to Antioch-on-the-Orontes (co-authored with Amy Miranda; Cambridge University Press, 2023), Trends in Archive Archaeology (Brepols, 2024), A Second Gaze: Intertextuality and Transient Meaning in Roman Texts and Objects (German Archaeological Institute, 2024), and Sensory Experiences in the Roman North (special issue, Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, 2023).

Elizabeth Molacek is an art historian specializing in ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology, with a focus on Roman wall paintings, mosaics, and collection histories. She co-leads the international Excavating Antioch project and serves as contributing curator of the related exhibition. She has curated and contributed to exhibitions and ongoing research initiatives, including the Roman Domestic Art installation and the Tethys Project at the Harvard Art Museums. Her work includes research on ancient mosaics and their modern past including contributions to Archaeology of Daphne (Brepols, 2026), Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Cambridge University Press, 2023), A Quaint and Curious Volume: Essays in Honor of John Dobbins (Archaeopress, 2021), Animal-Shaped Vessels from the Ancient World (Yale University Press, 2018), and The Berlin Painter and His World (Princeton University Press, 2017).