Religion, Society and Culture at Dura-Europos

Religion, Society and Culture at Dura-Europos
Author: Ted Kaizer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2016-11-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107123798

This book advances our understanding of the religion, society and culture of Dura-Europos, known as the 'Pompeii of the Syrian desert'.

The Roman Military Base at Dura-Europos, Syria

The Roman Military Base at Dura-Europos, Syria
Author: Simon James
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 784
Release: 2019-02-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 019257177X

Dura-Europos, a Parthian-ruled Greco-Syrian city, was captured by Rome c.AD165. It then accommodated a Roman garrison until its destruction by Sasanian siege c.AD256. Excavations of the site between the World Wars made sensational discoveries, and with renewed exploration from 1986 to 2011, Dura remains the best-explored city of the Roman East. A critical revelation was a sprawling Roman military base occupying a quarter of the city's interior. This included swathes of civilian housing converted to soldiers' accommodation and several existing sanctuaries, as well as baths, an amphitheatre, headquarters, and more temples added by the garrison. Base and garrison were clearly fundamental factors in the history of Roman Dura, but what impact did they have on the civil population? Original excavators gloomily portrayed Durenes evicted from their homes and holy places, and subjected to extortion and impoverishment by brutal soldiers, while recent commentators have envisaged military-civilian concordia, with shared prosperity and integration. Detailed examination of the evidence presents a new picture. Through the use of GPS, satellite, geophysical and archival evidence, this volume shows that the Roman military base and resident community were even bigger than previously understood, with both military and civil communities appearing much more internally complex than has been allowed until now. The result is a fascinating social dynamic which we can partly reconstruct, giving us a nuanced picture of life in a city near the eastern frontier of the Roman world.

Dura-Europos

Dura-Europos
Author: Jennifer Baird
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2018-06-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1472523652

Dura-Europos is one of Syria's most important archaeological sites. Situated on the edge of the Euphrates river, it was the subject of extensive excavations in the 1920s and 30s by teams from Yale University and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Controlled variously by Seleucid, Parthian, and Roman powers, the site was one of impressive religious and linguistic diversity: it was home to at least nineteen sanctuaries, amongst them a Synagogue and a Christian building, and many languages, including Greek, Latin, Persian, Palmyrene, and Hebrew which were excavated on inscriptions, parchments, and graffiti. Based on the author's work excavating at the site with the Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura and extensive archival research, this book provides an overview of the site and its history, and traces the story of its investigation from archaeological discovery to contemporary destruction.

The Roman Military Base at Dura-Europos, Syria

The Roman Military Base at Dura-Europos, Syria
Author: Simon James
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2019-02-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0191061212

Dura-Europos, a Parthian-ruled Greco-Syrian city, was captured by Rome c.AD165. It then accommodated a Roman garrison until its destruction by Sasanian siege c.AD256. Excavations of the site between the World Wars made sensational discoveries, and with renewed exploration from 1986 to 2011, Dura remains the best-explored city of the Roman East. A critical revelation was a sprawling Roman military base occupying a quarter of the city's interior. This included swathes of civilian housing converted to soldiers' accommodation and several existing sanctuaries, as well as baths, an amphitheatre, headquarters, and more temples added by the garrison. Base and garrison were clearly fundamental factors in the history of Roman Dura, but what impact did they have on the civil population? Original excavators gloomily portrayed Durenes evicted from their homes and holy places, and subjected to extortion and impoverishment by brutal soldiers, while recent commentators have envisaged military-civilian concordia, with shared prosperity and integration. Detailed examination of the evidence presents a new picture. Through the use of GPS, satellite, geophysical and archival evidence, this volume shows that the Roman military base and resident community were even bigger than previously understood, with both military and civil communities appearing much more internally complex than has been allowed until now. The result is a fascinating social dynamic which we can partly reconstruct, giving us a nuanced picture of life in a city near the eastern frontier of the Roman world.

Principles of Decoration in the Roman World

Principles of Decoration in the Roman World
Author: Annette Haug
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2021-04-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110732211

This book explores the manner in which architectural settings and action contexts influenced the perception of decoration in the Roman world. Crucial to the relationship between ancient viewers and media was the concept of decor, a term employed by Vitruvius and other Roman authors to describe the appropriateness of particular decorative elements to the environment in which they were located. The papers in this volume examine a diverse range of decorated spaces, from press rooms to synagogues, through the lens of decor. In doing so, they shed new light on the decorative principles employed across Roman Italy and beyond.

The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos

The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos
Author: Lucinda Dirven
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004295925

This volume deals with the religion of Palmyrenes in Dura-Europos during the first three centuries of the Common Era, and focuses upon the religious interaction between this migrant community and their new residence. By studying the religious interaction of distinct groups on a local level, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the process of religious development and change in Syria during the Roman period. Information on the Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos consists primarily of archaeological remains that have been found there. The Palmyrene materials from Dura-Europos have never been published collectively, and for this reason they are enumerated and re-evaluated in the appendix. The book is richly illustrated with 20 figures and 22 plates.

Breastfeeding and Mothering in Antiquity and Early Byzantium

Breastfeeding and Mothering in Antiquity and Early Byzantium
Author: Stavroula Constantinou
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2023-09-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 100099743X

This volume offers the first comparative, interdisciplinary, and intercultural examination of the lactating woman – biological mother and othermother – in antiquity and early Byzantium. Adopting methodologies and knowledge deriving from a variety of disciplines, the volume’s contributors investigate the close interrelationship between a woman and her lactating breasts, as well as the social, ideological, theological, and medical meanings and uses of motherhood, childbirth, and breastfeeding, along with their visual and literary representations. Breastfeeding and the work of mothering are explored through the study of a great variety of sources, mainly works of Greek-speaking cultures, written and visual, anonymous and eponymous, which were mostly produced between the first and the seventh century AD. Due to their multiple interdisciplinary dimensions, ancient and early Byzantine lactating women are approached through three interconnected thematic strands having a twofold focus: society and ideology, medicine and practice, and art and literature. By developing the model of the lactating woman, the volume offers a new analytical framework for understanding a significant part of the still unwritten cultural history of the period. At the same time, the volume significantly contributes to the emerging fields of breast and motherhood studies. The new and significant knowledge generated in the fields of ancient and Byzantine studies may also prove useful for cultural historians in general and other disciplines, such as literary studies, art history, history of medicine, philosophy, theology, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies.

Synagogues in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods

Synagogues in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
Author: Lutz Doering
Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2020-12-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3647522155

The study of ancient Judaism has enjoyed a steep rise in interest and publications in recent decades, although the focus has often been on the ideas and beliefs represented in ancient Jewish texts rather than on the daily lives and the material culture of Jews/Judaeans and their communities. The nascent institution of the synagogue formed an increasingly important venue for communal gathering and daily or weekly practice. This collection of essays brings together a broad spectrum of new archaeological and textual data with various emergent theories and interpretative methods in order to address the need to understand the place of the synagogue in the daily and weekly procedures, community frameworks, and theological structures in which Judaeans, Galileans, and Jewish people in the Diaspora lived and gathered. The interdisciplinary studies will be of great significance for anyone studying ancient Jewish belief, practice, and community formation.

The Public Lives of Ancient Women (500 BCE-650 CE)

The Public Lives of Ancient Women (500 BCE-650 CE)
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2023-02-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004534512

Covering a broad chronological and geographic range and a great variety of source types, this volume examines the presence and activities of ancient women in the public domain, for example as rulers, patrons, priestesses, wives, athletes and pilgrims.

The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra

The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra
Author: Rubina Raja
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 633
Release: 2024
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0190858117

With contributions from thirty archaeologists, epigraphists, historians, and philologists, this book covers Palmyra's archaeological remains and history from its earliest phases in the pre-Roman era to the destruction of many of its monuments during the Syrian Civil War and subsequent looting. The authors give comprehensive overviews of already published evidence, as well as significant new findings and analyses from fieldwork, and cover a broad range of themes, which not only relate to the archaeology and history of the site, but also to its relationship with the rest of the ancient world as a major trade hub during the Roman period.