The study of furniture has often been marginalised in comparison with the intense attention paid to the so-called major arts of architecture, sculpture and painting from Mediterranean antiquity. Part of the reason for this can be attributed to the poor survival rate of objects that were usually made of wood and thus were quite perishable. A more serious contributing factor, though, is the tendency to look on furniture as utilitarian items limited to domestic usage. Yet ancient furniture was often manufactured with exquisite craftsmanship and contained decorative elements of luxury materials such as ivory or amber. Clearly furniture could be of high financial value, used to entertain important guests and in funerary rites for elite individuals. Moreover, furniture is an important indicator of values and customs, and thus contributes to our understanding of ancient social history. Therefore this volume, which examines the kline, or couch, and its use in Greek and western Anatolia, is welcome. Earlier studies of the kline addressed the topic primarily from the standpoint of typological analysis and chronological development. B.'s approach is different: she uses the kline as an entrée into an analysis of the cultural practices of Greeks and Anatolians, with special emphasis on the use of the kline in funerary rites and its function as a signifier of identity and rank.
Chapter 1 provides a thorough review of the evidence for klinai in the Greek world. Much of this is pictorial, since few actual wooden klinai survive. B. keeps the traditional stylistic organisation of couches as Type A (round legs) and Type B (rectangular legs, often inlaid), developed by Kyreleis in his 1969 study Throne und Klinen, and analyses their origin and distribution. The discussion puts more emphasis on function rather than form, considering how klinai were multi-purpose objects for eating and resting, living and dying. The elaborately decorated klinai shown on Attic vases and their regular use for heroes and divinities show clearly that these were high-status objects. Indeed, the act of reclining while dining or mourning the dead laid out on an ornate kline reinforces the elite status of the individual or family using the kline.
Chapter 2 summarises the evidence for klinai in Anatolia. Here the evidence is drawn almost exclusively from stone couches in chamber tombs, primarily from the sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. B. is most familiar with the evidence from Lydian tombs, but also includes a discussion of tombs with klinai from Phyrgia, Caria, Lycia and Paphlagonia. The contents of chamber tombs and tumuli from the Early Phrygian period indicate that Phrygians usually chose a wooden coffin or bed for elite burials. Stone chamber tombs become common during the sixth century during the period of Lydian and Persian domination. In Lydia, several sites with chamber tombs have been investigated and these often have stone klinai, providing a major body of evidence for the actual appearance of the couch. Later examples from Caria and Lycia show that the chamber tomb continued to be used, even after the presence of Greek-style decorative motifs became common. B.'s careful discussion of the evidence provides a fascinating look at the persistence of indigenous Anatolian customs in the face of the increasing influence of Greek visual forms.
Chapter 3 discusses the origin of the kline's use as a burial feature. Traditionally the use of klinai in burial rites was considered to be a Persian custom, introduced into Anatolia in the latter part of the sixth century b.c.e. during the period of Persian hegemony. B.'s extensive review of the evidence, however, shows that a Persian origin is unlikely. The custom was widespread well before then; funerary couches are attested in Urartian and probably Phrygian burial sites, and they are also found in Cyprus and Palestine. The practice may have been introduced into Greece from there. The funerary couch carries many connotations: the idea of dining could be present, whether through an allusion to a funerary meal or towards the general practice of elite dining while reclining. It can also carry erotic connotations along with the general status of wealth and leisure, particularly the opportunity to lean back and recline while others wait on the elite individual and cater to his pleasures, whatever they may be. A funerary couch would have been multi-functional, with allusions both to the literal aspect of reclining in perpetuity and the symbolic aspects of high status and the accompanying ability to satisfy desires.
Chapter 4 returns to the question of Persian influence and the interaction of Persians and Lydians in western Anatolia during the sixth and fifth centuries b.c.e. The widespread use of klinai and the presence of luxurious grave furnishings and painted decoration in Lydian tombs have led several scholars to conclude that these indicate new funerary traditions introduced into the region by Persian elites. B., however, argues for stronger elements of indigenous Lydian traditions, itself a product of the fusion of pre-Lydian and Lydian practices. The distinctive funerary culture of Lydia during this era results from the interest of local Anatolian elites in melding their own traditions with the customs of their Achaemenian overlords. She does not deny the existence of Persianising elements in Lydian material culture, but suggests that many aspects of funerary practice, including the klinai, the grave goods and the tomb paintings are a result of cross-cultural hybridisation, a process that created distinctive visual forms reflecting the mixed ethnic character of the region.
The book contains much interesting material. Its detailed presentation of the Anatolian evidence will be of value for many scholars of ancient Greece who are not familiar with the extensive series of tombs in Lydia, Phrygia and other regions of Anatolia. Moreover, B.'s emphasis on the broad cross-cultural connections among different Anatolian ethnic groups is a useful reminder about the difficulties of trying to determine ethnic identity from material artefacts. At the same time the work has some weaknesses that limit its usefulness. The book's origin as a doctoral dissertation is evident in several ways. B. gives an exhaustive presentation of the material and includes frequent references to the extensive bibliography on the topic. While this clearly shows her mastery of the subject, it often causes the reader to get bogged down in detail to the point where it is difficult to see an overall pattern or development to B.'s argument. In addition, the individual sections do not hang together very well. Part of this derives from the unbalanced nature of the evidence, partly representational and partly based on surviving examples. In the section on Greek klinai, most of the evidence is derived from visual representations of couches, especially in Greek vase painting, where they are used for a variety of functions, including dining and resting, in addition to their funerary use. The discussion of the Anatolian material, in contrast, can focus on actual examples of klinai, but the material is connected almost exclusively with funerary rites; it seems likely that the kline was also used for dining in Lydia but we lack the evidence to evaluate this. This causes the Anatolian chapter to focus heavily on tomb types and the chronology of burial monuments. Such uneven treatment may be inevitable, given the uneven character of the evidence, but it leaves the reader with a misleading view of how the couch was actually used in different parts of the eastern Mediterranean area. But overall, B. has done a great service by drawing attention to this abundant and fascinating body of material and its potential as a source of information about ancient craftsmanship and ancient life.
