Interpreting figurines as potential images of the self, used in identity construction and display, Chapter 4 posits a recursive process in which figurines educated their users on socially acceptable norms of self-presentation while also reshaping those norms. Greek and Babylonian identities were negotiated through these objects, in which hybrid identity formations differed along gender, age, and class lines, with some sectors of society (especially youthful and female groups) more engaged in cross-cultural interaction than others.

The power of miniatures to reshape social life is the topic of Chapter 3, which examines spectatorship of figurines depicting mothers with children, couples, and musician groups. The visual portrayal and tactile accessibility of these miniaturized “relationships,” as well as the absence of other social relationships in the figurine corpus, established expectations and limits on acceptable social structures.

The fifth chapter situates Babylonia and its miniature objects within the wider Hellenistic koine, revealing both the firmly local nature of this figurine tradition, as well as its connections to a rapidly globalizing Greek world. Figurines of “othered” bodies are also analyzed in this chapter in order to show that difference in Hellenistic Babylonia was conceived of in multiple ways, not just cultural or geographical – and that, in the end, the figurines reflect a society that was generally endeavoring to integrate and smooth over differences, rather than to highlight and ostracize based upon them.

The first chapter presents the complexities of miniaturization theory and the book’s intervention within that discourse, which is to challenge the notion that all tiny objects are straightforwardly and equally “intimate.” User desire for sensory engagements necessitated spatial proximity with figurines; yet, rather than invite the user completely into a private miniature world, Hellenistic Babylonian figurines made continual reference to the real-scale world – thus allowing community social mores to permeate private spaces and interactions.

This book investigates the role of anthropomorphic figurines as agents of cross–cultural identity production and social negotiation in Hellenistic Babylonia. Babylonia, in the southern region of the modern-day country of Iraq (see Map), was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. This event began the so-called Hellenistic period, a time marked by widespread migrations of Macedonian and Greek peoples (often referred to together as “Greeks”) into the already ancient and culturally diverse cities of the Ancient Near Eastern region. Babylonians, other Mesopotamians, Persians, West Semitic peoples, and, eventually, Parthians also participated in these communities. Both material culture and textual records from Hellenistic Babylonia reveal a complex society defined and pervaded by cross-cultural interaction. The end date of the Hellenistic period is less fixed.

This volume has shown that figurines have an immense and particular power to inform upon the social imaginary of Hellenistic Babylonia. The vast numbers of figurines indicate that these objects experienced an enormous popularity, circulating throughout and penetrating the social landscape. The rich variety of figurines attests to their experimental and responsive nature. They do not represent a stagnant tradition unthinkingly copied, but rather formed an expressive toolkit for exploring, representing, and influencing the world around them. In the techniques used to create them, the kinds of bodies and identities that were depicted, and the choices of style and motif that determined their appearance and tactility, these figurines gave material form to the social conversations of which they were a part. Reflective of those community dialogues, the figurines also shaped their future trajectories.

The second chapter focuses on private encounters with Hellenistic Babylonian figurines that could fascinate their user through play, performance, and theatricality. The chapter argues that the user’s ability to manipulate the miniature bodies of particularly interactive figurines (such as soldiers with interchangeable weapons, or naked female figures with movable arms) impacted perceptions of real-life experiences (such as warfare or sex).

Chapter 3 analyzes the range of indices of antiquity that interpreters in Roman Anatolia consider meaningful. It examines the groupings of remains that interpreters formed to frame or support their favored historical narratives and calls attention to the fact that ancient groupings do not always correspond to what modern archaeologists usually consider archaeologically meaningful evidence.