IMC 2026: Sessions

These sessions explore the role of objects in mediating relationships between Constantinople and other cities from late antiquity to the Early Ottoman times. We ask how objects shaped, imagined, and maintained inter-urban ties, and in doing so, seek to develop interdisciplinary perspectives on the interaction between material culture and urban space. From Constantine’s transfer of the Palladium from Rome to Constantinople to Sultan Selim I’s symbolic acquisition of the keys to the Kaʿaba, objects—both tangible and symbolic—were central to shaping and representing the city’s connections with others. These objects provide a crucial lens for examining Constantinople’s development as an imperial city, revealing the many inter-urban exchanges that shaped both the city itself and its counterparts. Furthermore, these illuminate how the accumulation, curation, and redistribution of objects intersected with the ambitions of ruling elites and sustained networks of urban connectivity. By foregrounding the agency of objects in shaping inter-urban relations, these sessions aim to refine our understanding of Constantinople not as an isolated metropolis but as a dynamic node in a broader constellation of cities, whose identity and imperial status were continuously negotiated through mobility and exchange.