Saturday, April 19, 2025

Upcoming Seminar on Luwic Anthroponyms at Lyon’s HiSoMA

 Mark your calendars for April 22, 2025 - a compelling seminar awaits those interested in ancient languages, religious studies, and the power of names. The Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (MOM) in Lyon will host a talk by Dr. Florian Réveilhac (CNRS/HiSoMA) on a fascinating topic: the anthroponymy (naming system) of Southern Anatolian languages - namely Luwian, Lycian, and Carian, often collectively referred to as the Luwic subgroup.


Rethinking Names in the Ancient World

Long examined through an Indo-European lens - primarily modeled on Greek and Indo-Iranian - names in Luwic languages are now revealing much more complexity than previously thought. Dr. Réveilhac proposes a significant shift in approach: many personal names in these languages are theophoric, meaning they incorporate the name or epithets of deities.

These divine references may allude to:

  • Specific cult places,

  • Religious functions or offices,

  • Or titles attributed to gods.

Rather than simple lexical derivations, these names reveal a ritual and theological fabric that defined identity in Luwic-speaking cultures.

A New Typology of Names

Dr. Réveilhac’s talk, titled “Les noms théophores dans l’anthroponymie des langues louviques (louvite, lycien, carien, etc.) : nouvelles approches” ("Theophoric Names in Luwic Anthroponymy: New Approaches"), will offer a combinatorial analysis of the building blocks of these names. His work suggests a typology that could reframe how we read and interpret inscriptions from Anatolia.

Event Details

  • Title: Les noms théophores dans l’anthroponymie des langues louviques

  • Speaker: Dr. Florian Réveilhac, CNRS / HiSoMA

  • Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025

  • Time: 17:00–19:00

  • Location: Salle Reinach, 4th floor, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (MOM), 7 rue Raulin, Lyon 7e

  • Organized by: Gilles Van Heems, Yannis Gourdon, and Alcorac Alonso Déniz

  • Hosted by: HiSoMA (History and Sources of the Ancient World)


Whether you're a linguist, historian, philologist, or simply fascinated by how ancient peoples named themselves and others, this seminar offers a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research on ancient naming practices.

Stay tuned and follow updates at: hisoma.mom.fr

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