Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean

Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean
Author: Thomas Galoppin
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 1274
Release: 2022-12-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 311079845X

Ancient religions are definitely complex systems of gods, which resist our understanding. Divine names provide fundamental keys to gain access to the multiples ways gods were conceived, characterized, and organized. Among the names given to the gods many of them refer to spaces: cities, landscapes, sanctuaries, houses, cosmic elements. They reflect mental maps which need to be explored in order to gain new knowledge on both the structure of the pantheons and the human agency in the cultic dimension. By considering the intersection between naming and mapping, this book opens up new perspectives on how tradition and innovation, appropriation and creation play a role in the making of polytheistic and monotheistic religions. Far from being confined to sanctuaries, in fact, gods dwell in human environments in multiple ways. They move into imaginary spaces and explore the cosmos. By proposing a new and interdiciplinary angle of approach, which involves texts, images, spatial and archeaeological data, this book sheds light on ritual practices and representations of gods in the whole Mediterranean, from Italy to Mesopotamia, from Greece to North Africa and Egypt. Names and spaces enable to better define, differentiate, and connect gods.

Every Traveller Needs a Compass

Every Traveller Needs a Compass
Author: Neil Cooke
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015-10-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785701029

A varied and charming collection of 17 papers that bring something new about the people from many countries and backgrounds who traveled to, from and within Egypt and the Near East, either singly or as a group, and explored, observed and recorded, or stayed for a short period of time to improve their health or simply to enjoy the experience. While some travelers kept a diary or journal that has survived until today, others did not. Their travels have to be extracted from the wide range of manuscript sources that are thankfully retained in libraries and archives, or which still remain with their descendants. Sometimes, the name of a traveler is only contained in a few words within a single piece of correspondence or journal entry, yet from such small beginnings and through detective work to link the chance meetings between travelers with a location, or news of a shared event, it is often possible to chart part of a traveler’s journey and bring to life a person who has long been forgotten. These minor characters and their travails often bring a new perspective to well-known places and events.

The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyūm from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity

The Urban Landscape of Bakchias: A Town of the Fayyūm from the Ptolemaic-Roman Period to Late Antiquity
Author: Paola Buzi
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2020-04-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1789695686

This book summarises the results of field research—including historical, historico-religious and papyrological studies—conducted on the archaeological site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyūm region. The book provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the rise and fall of the kome of Bakchias.

I templi del Fayyum di epoca tolemaico-romana: tra fonti scritte e contesti archeologici

I templi del Fayyum di epoca tolemaico-romana: tra fonti scritte e contesti archeologici
Author: Ilaria Rossetti
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2020-04-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789694965

During the Ptolemaic period, Egyptian temples were divided into three ranks: first, second and third class. This volume examines the rules according to which Egyptian sacred buildings were classified and how the different classes of temples were planned and arranged.

One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts

One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts
Author: Michael Friedrich
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2016-11-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110495597

Composite and multiple-text manuscripts are traditionally studied for their individual texts, but recent trends in codicology have paved the way for a more comprehensive approach: Manuscripts are unique artefacts which reveal how they were produced and used as physical objects. While multiple-text manuscripts codicologically are to be considered as production units, i.e. they were originally planned and realized in order to carry more than one text, composites consist of formerly independent codicological units and were put together at a later stage with intentions that might be completely different from those of its original parts. Both sub-types of manuscripts are still sometimes called "miscellanies", a term relating to the texts only. The codicological difference is important for reconstructing why and how these manuscripts which in many cases resemble (or contain) a small library were produced and used. Contributions on the manuscript cultures of China, India, Africa, the Islamic world and European traditions lead not only to the conclusion that "one-volume libraries" have been produced in many manuscript cultures, but allow also for the identification of certain types of uses.

Tradition and Transformation. Egypt under Roman Rule

Tradition and Transformation. Egypt under Roman Rule
Author: Katja Lembke
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2010-05-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004189599

In 30 BCE, Egypt became a province of the Roman empire. Alongside unbroken traditions—especially of the indigenous Egyptian population, but also among the Greek elite—major changes and slow processes of transformation can be observed. The multi-ethnical population was situated between new patterns of rule and traditional lifeways. This tension between change and permanence was investigated during the conference. The last decades have seen an increase in the interest in Roman Egypt with new research from different disciplines—Egyptology, Ancient History, Classical Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Papyrology—providing new insights into the written and archaeological sources, especially into settlement archaeology. Well-known scholars analysed the Egyptian temples, the structure and development of the administration beside archaeological, papyrological, art-historical and cult related questions.