The Sumhuram Yakṣī, an index of metal reuse?
Divya Kumar-Dumas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW))
Although certain objects from South Arabia exhibit hybridity, a fragmentary bronze female figurine currently in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian (accession # S2013.2.378) excavated from Khor Rori (aka. ancient Sumhuram), which is in modern-day Oman, is of Indian manufacture and was brought to its findspot via maritime networks in the early centuries CE. Discussion of this figurine has considered its iconographic similarity to larger scale salabhanjika (also śālabhañjikā) sculptural motifs and its corroboration of the Western Indian Ocean trade linking South Asia with the Mediterranean via ports on the Arabian Peninsula. In this talk, I will review the art historical and archaeological arguments, before suggesting a more robust understanding of the Sumhuram yaḳsī requiring greater future engagement with texts and material science. My discussion emerges from a 2021-2022 collaboration with scholars specializing in South Asian art history, literature, and Ancient Near East art and archaeology.
This group focuses on the kinds of research published in journals such as the Indian Journal of History of Science, the e-Journal of Indian Medicine: EJIM, Asian Medicine, and History of Science in South Asia. The working group brings together scholars who study the history of science in South Asia before about 1800 and as discoverable from literatures in Sanskrit and other indigenous Indian languages. We take “South Asia” as an inclusive, non-political, socio-geographic term referring to the area from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, from Pakistan to Bangladesh, and of course India. Discussions on the influences of South Asian cultures beyond these borders is also welcome, for example Nepalese or Tibetan influences on China, Sri Lankan influences on the Maldives, or Indian influences in South-East Asia. We broadly conceive of “science” to include all forms of systematic intellectual activity, as in the German “die Wissenschaft,” that covers most forms of academic scholarship. Theoretical discussions of the meaning of “science” in the South Asian context are welcome. The group meets monthly during the academic year. We welcome the presentation of individual and group work-in-progress, facilitated discussions of published articles and books, and focused reading sessions in Indic languages.
Consortium Respectful Behavior Policy
Participants at Consortium activities will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment that is free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
Participants will avoid any inappropriate actions or statements based on individual characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, ability status, educational background, or any other characteristic protected by law. Disruptive or harassing behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate or intimidating behavior and language, unwelcome jokes or comments, unwanted touching or attention, offensive images, photography without permission, and stalking.
Participants may send reports or concerns about violations of this policy to conduct@chstm.org.
Upcoming Meetings
Monday, April 21, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Monday, April 21, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
The Sumhuram Yakṣī, an index of metal reuse?
Divya Kumar-Dumas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW))
Although certain objects from South Arabia exhibit hybridity, a fragmentary bronze female figurine currently in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian (accession # S2013.2.378) excavated from Khor Rori (aka. ancient Sumhuram), which is in modern-day Oman, is of Indian manufacture and was brought to its findspot via maritime networks in the early centuries CE. Discussion of this figurine has considered its iconographic similarity to larger scale salabhanjika (also śālabhañjikā) sculptural motifs and its corroboration of the Western Indian Ocean trade linking South Asia with the Mediterranean via ports on the Arabian Peninsula. In this talk, I will review the art historical and archaeological arguments, before suggesting a more robust understanding of the Sumhuram yaḳsī requiring greater future engagement with texts and material science. My discussion emerges from a 2021-2022 collaboration with scholars specializing in South Asian art history, literature, and Ancient Near East art and archaeology.
Monday, April 21, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
The Sumhuram Yakṣī, an index of metal reuse?
Divya Kumar-Dumas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW))
Although certain objects from South Arabia exhibit hybridity, a fragmentary bronze female figurine currently in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian (accession # S2013.2.378) excavated from Khor Rori (aka. ancient Sumhuram), which is in modern-day Oman, is of Indian manufacture and was brought to its findspot via maritime networks in the early centuries CE. Discussion of this figurine has considered its iconographic similarity to larger scale salabhanjika (also śālabhañjikā) sculptural motifs and its corroboration of the Western Indian Ocean trade linking South Asia with the Mediterranean via ports on the Arabian Peninsula. In this talk, I will review the art historical and archaeological arguments, before suggesting a more robust understanding of the Sumhuram yaḳsī requiring greater future engagement with texts and material science. My discussion emerges from a 2021-2022 collaboration with scholars specializing in South Asian art history, literature, and Ancient Near East art and archaeology.
Monday, April 21, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
The Sumhuram Yakṣī, an index of metal reuse?
Divya Kumar-Dumas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW))
Although certain objects from South Arabia exhibit hybridity, a fragmentary bronze female figurine currently in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian (accession # S2013.2.378) excavated from Khor Rori (aka. ancient Sumhuram), which is in modern-day Oman, is of Indian manufacture and was brought to its findspot via maritime networks in the early centuries CE. Discussion of this figurine has considered its iconographic similarity to larger scale salabhanjika (also śālabhañjikā) sculptural motifs and its corroboration of the Western Indian Ocean trade linking South Asia with the Mediterranean via ports on the Arabian Peninsula. In this talk, I will review the art historical and archaeological arguments, before suggesting a more robust understanding of the Sumhuram yaḳsī requiring greater future engagement with texts and material science. My discussion emerges from a 2021-2022 collaboration with scholars specializing in South Asian art history, literature, and Ancient Near East art and archaeology.
Monday, May 19, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Methods in the Material Histories of South Asia: Snapshot-presentations and Discussion
Join us for a special meeting! We invite you to use an object or an image to introduce your work in the material history of South Asia in a snapshot presentation. These presentations will be a springboard into a discussion on methods in the Material Histories of South Asia. Pre-circulated readings TBD.
Monday, May 19, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Methods in the Material Histories of South Asia: Snapshot-presentations and Discussion
Join us for a special meeting! We invite you to use an object or an image to introduce your work in the material history of South Asia in a snapshot presentation. These presentations will be a springboard into a discussion on methods in the Material Histories of South Asia. Pre-circulated readings TBD.
Monday, May 19, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Methods in the Material Histories of South Asia: Snapshot-presentations and Discussion
Join us for a special meeting! We invite you to use an object or an image to introduce your work in the material history of South Asia in a snapshot presentation. These presentations will be a springboard into a discussion on methods in the Material Histories of South Asia. Pre-circulated readings TBD.
Monday, May 19, 2025, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Methods in the Material Histories of South Asia: Snapshot-presentations and Discussion
Join us for a special meeting! We invite you to use an object or an image to introduce your work in the material history of South Asia in a snapshot presentation. These presentations will be a springboard into a discussion on methods in the Material Histories of South Asia. Pre-circulated readings TBD.
Group Conveners
Lisa Brooks
Lisa Allette Brooks is a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta and the recipient of the Dorothy Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Prize, as well as a 2022-2023 AAS Pipeline Fellowship. Lisa’s current project, Leech Trouble: Therapeutic Entanglements in More-Than-Human Medicines, is a historical and textual study of human-leech medicine in South Asia and a comparative ethnographic study of leech therapy in contemporary ayurvedic medicine and biomedicine. Lisa’s work has been published in the Asian Review of World Histories, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Asian Medicine and in the edited volume Fluid Matter(s) by ANU press (eds. Kuriyama and Koehle). Lisa co-edited a special issue of Asian Medicine, “Medicines and Memories in South Asia” 15.1 (2020) and is the South Asia book review editor for the journal Asian Medicine and reviews editor for History of Science in South Asia. In 2021 Lisa completed a PhD in South and Southeast Asian Studies with Designated Emphases in Science and Technology Studies, and in Women, Gender, and Sexuality at UC Berkeley. Lisa'a interests include multispecies medicine, histories of health, healing, and embodiment, queer and feminist science studies, and sensory studies.
Dagmar Wujastyk
Dagmar Wujastyk is an Associate Professor in the department of History, Classics, and Religious Studies. She is an indologist specializing in the history and literature of classical South Asia, including Indian medicine (Ayurveda), iatrochemistry (rasaśāstra), and yoga. Her publications include Modern and Global Ayurveda – Pluralism and Paradigms (SUNY Press) and Well-mannered medicine. Medical Ethics and Etiquette in the Sanskrit Medical Classics (OUP NY). She is Associate Editor of the journal Asian Medicine and History of Science in South Asia. From 2015-2020, Prof. Wujastyk was Principal Investigator of a European Research Council “Horizon 2020” project on the entangled histories of yoga, medicine and alchemy in medieval India. The project website is http://ayuryog.org/