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Working the Night Shift: Life after Dark in the Ancient World

  • AIA Toronto Society (map)

The 2022 AIA Matson Lecture by Prof. April Nowell

As twilight settled in the ancient world, a host of activities ensued, some of which were significantly different from what people did during the daytime. Some artifacts, features, and buildings associated with these activities were particular to the dark, while other material culture was transformed in meaning as the sun set. So much of our economic, social, and ritual lives take place at night and yet, until recently, relatively little archaeological research has been undertaken specifically on nocturnal quotidian practices. Many tasks are uniquely suited to the affordances of nighttime. Night is often quieter, and its darkness provides refuge from heat and offers freedom from surveillance and from the demands of the day. In this talk, I consider those who worked the “nightshift” in ancient societies—from the hunters, agriculturists, sewage workers, and ironsmiths to the poets, navigators, and rebellion leaders. Drawing on archaeological data and textual evidence, I argue that nighttime in the ancient world was anything but sleepy.

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February 22

Antiquity in Color: Kore 670 from the New Acropolis Museum to the ROM By Paul Denis (Curator, ROM)

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April 26

Ancient Nubia in the 21st Century