Archaeology by period / region Books

Book SynopsisThe famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, ancient Praeneste in central Italy, dating to c. 100 B.C., is one of the earliest large mosaics which have been preserved from the classical world. It presents a unique, comprehensive picture of Egypt and Nubia. The interpretation of the mosaic is disputed, suggestions ranging from an exotic decoration to a topographical picture or a religious allegory. The present study demonstrates that the mosaic depicts rituals connected with Isis and Osiris and the yearly Nile flood. The presence of these Egyptian religious scenes at Praeneste can be explained by the assimilation of isis and Fortuna, the tutelary goddess of Praeneste, and by the interpretation of the mosaic as a symbol of divine providence.Trade Review'...grâce à l'auteur...' Robert Turcan, Revue des Etudes Latines. 'Meyboom’s monograph remains an indispensible resource for study of the Nile Mosaic at Praeneste. Students will benefit from the clear manner in which arguments are presented, and scholars familiar with these arguments still have much to gain from sifting through the goldmine of endnotes. It remains highly recommended.' Joshua J. Thomas, University of Oxford, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2017.06.45

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Book SynopsisIn An Arena for Higher Powers Olof Sundqvist investigates ceremonial buildings and religious ruler strategies in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (i.e. AD 550-1050/1100). The author offers here an account of the role played by religion in political undertakings among the pre-Christian ruling elites at halls and cultic buildings. Sundqvist applies a regional approach, so as to be able to account for the specific historical, cultural and social contexts. The focus is mainly on three regions, the Lake Mälaren area in Sweden, Trøndelag in Norway, and Iceland. Since the political structure and other contextual aspects partly differed in the three regions, the religious strategies for gaining legitimacy and authorization at the sanctuaries also varied to some extent in these areas.

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Book SynopsisThe Babylonian Talmud remains the richest source of information regarding the material culture and lifestyle of the Babylonian Jewish community, with additional data now supplied by Babylonian incantation bowls. Although archaeology has yet to excavate any Jewish sites from Babylonia, information from Parthian and Sassanian Babylonia provides relevant background information, which differs substantially from archaeological finds from the Land of Israel. One of the key questions addresses the amount of traffic and general communications between Jewish Babylonia and Israel, considering the great distances and hardships of travel involved.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements The Contributors Introduction: The Archaeology and Material Culture of the Babylonian Talmud, Markum. J. Geller Land behind Ctesiphon: the Archaeology of Babylonia during the Period of the Babylonian Talmud, St John Simpson ‘Recycling economies, when efficient, are by their nature invisible.’ A First Century Jewish Recycling Economy, Matthew Ponting and Dan Levene The Cedar in Jewish Antiquity, Michael Stone Since when do Women go to Miqveh? Archaeological and Rabbinic Evidence, Tal Ilan Rabbis in Incantation Bowls, Shaul Shaked Divorcing a Demon: Incantation Bowls and BT Giṭṭin 85b, Siam Bhayro Lilith’s Hair and Ashmedai’s Horns: Incantation Bowl Imagery in the Light of Talmudic Descriptions, Naama Vilozny The Material World of Babylonia as seen from Roman Palestine: Some Preliminary Observations, Yaron Eliav Travel Between Palestine and Mesopotamia during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods: A Preliminary Study, Getzel Cohen (z’’l) Shopping in Ctesiphon: A Lesson in Sasanian Commercial Practice, Yaakov Elman Substance and Fruit in the Sasanian Law of Property and the Babylonian Talmud, Maria Macuch Rabbinic, Christian, and Local Calendars in Late Antique Babylonia: Influence and Shared Culture, Sacha Stern ‘Manasseh sawed Isaiah with a Saw of Wood:’ an Ancient Legend in Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Persian Sources, Richard Kalmin Biblical ‘Archaeology’ and Babylonian Rabbis: On the Self-Image of Jews in Sasanian Babylonia, Isaiah Gafni Loanwords in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: Some Preliminary Observations, Theodore Kwasman The Gymnasium at Babylon and Jerusalem, Markham J. Geller and D. T. Potts Index

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Book SynopsisMedieval Buda in Context discusses the character and development of Buda and its surroundings between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries, particularly its role as a royal center and capital city of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. The twenty-one articles written by Hungarian and international scholars draw on a variety of primary sources: texts, both legal and literary; archaeological discoveries; architectural history; art history; and other studies of material culture. The essays also place Buda in the political, social, cultural and economic context of other contemporary central and eastern European cities. By bringing together the results of research undertaken in recent decades for an English-language readership, this volume offers new insights into urban history and the culture of Europe as a whole. Contributors are János M. Bak, Zoltán Bencze, Judit Benda, István Draskóczy, Antonín Kalous, István Kenyeres, Gábor Klaniczay, András Kubinyi, József Laszlovszky, Károly Magyar, Balázs Nagy, Szilárd Papp, James Plumtree, Martyn Rady, Valery Rees, Orsolya Réthelyi, Beatrix F. Romhányi, Enikő Spekner, Péter Szabó, Katalin Szende, András Vadas, András Végh, and László Veszprémy.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction Part 1: Buda: History, Sources, Historiography 1 The Budapest History Museum and the Rediscovery of Medieval Buda Zoltán Bencze 2 The Fate of the Medieval Archives of Buda and Pest István Kenyeres Part 2: Buda before Buda 3 Buda before Buda: Óbuda and Pest as Early Centers Enikő Spekner 4 ‘A castle once stood, now a heap of stones…’ the Site and Remains of Óbuda in Medieval Chronicles, National Epics, and Modern Fringe Theories József Laszlovszky and James Plumtree 5 A Royal Forest in the Medium Regni Péter Szabó Part 3: The Topography of Buda 6 Royal Residences in Buda in Hungarian and European Context Károly Magyar 7 Buda-Pest 1300 – Buda-Pest 1400. Two Topographical Snapshots András Végh 8 The Monastic Topography of Medieval Buda Beatrix F. Romhányi 9 Sacred Sites in Medieval Buda Gábor Klaniczay 10 Merchants, Markets, and Shops in Late Medieval Buda, Pest and Óbuda Judit Benda 11 Commercial Contacts of Buda along the Danube and beyond István Draskóczy Part 4: Buda as a Power Center 12 The Government of Medieval Buda Martyn Rady 13 Diets and Synods in Buda and Its Environs János M. Bak and András Vadas 14 Royal Summits in and around Medieval Buda Balázs Nagy 15 Buda, Medieval Capital of Hungary András Kubinyi Part 5: Court Culture of a ‘Capital’ 16 Made for the King: Sigismund of Luxemburg’s Statues in Buda and Their Place in Art History Szilárd Papp 17 The Court of the King and Queen in Buda in the Jagiellonian Age Orsolya Réthelyi 18 Buda as a Center of Renaissance and Humanism Valery Rees Part 6: Buda beyond Buda 19 Buda: From a Royal Palace to an Assaulted Border Castle, 1490–1541 László Veszprémy 20 The Last Medieval King Leaves Buda Antonín Kalous 21 Buda and the Urban Development of East Central Europe Katalin Szende Appendices Select Bibliography on the History of Medieval Buda Index of Geographic Names Index of Personal Names

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Book SynopsisAll aspects of the ancient site of Ras Shamra (Ugarit) are treated in this compendium: discovery, decipherment of script, interpretation of literary, diplomatic and legal texts, as well as analysis of languages, history, religion and iconography. Cyrus Gordon called its archives 'the foremost literary discovery of the twentieth century' and they have undoubtedly revolutionized our knowledge of the background to Greek, Phoenician and Israelite culture.Trade Review'...diesen wertvollen Band, der für die weitere Beschäftigung mit Ugarit und seiner Welt unerläßlich sein dürfte.’ F. Zeeb, UF, 1998. 'Nummehr liegt ein veritables “Handbook of Ugaritic Studies” vor, welches den Namen eines Handbuchs wirklich verdient, da es eine verläßliche und erschöpfende Übersicht zum stand der Ugarit-Forschungen gewährt.’ Herbert Niehr, Journal of Semitic Studies. 2001.

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Book SynopsisIn (Re)using Ruins, Douglas Underwood presents a new account of the use and reuse of Roman urban public monuments in a crucial period of transition, A.D. 300-600. Commonly seen as a period of uniform decline for public building, especially in the western half of the Mediterranean, (Re)using Ruins shows a vibrant, yet variable, history for these structures. Douglas Underwood establishes a broad catalogue of archaeological evidence (supplemented with epigraphic and literary testimony) for the construction, maintenance, abandonment and reuses of baths, aqueducts, theatres, amphitheatres and circuses in Italy, southern Gaul, Spain, and North Africa, demonstrating that the driving force behind the changes to public buildings was largely a combined shift in urban ideologies and euergetistic practices in Late Antique cities.Trade Review"This book is innovative and underlines transformations in the late antique Mediterranean area. Its approach to reuse is rich, full of nuance, and based on a subtle analysis of all archaeological data. [...] There is no doubt this book will become a reference for the evolutionary processes of public buildings during Late Antiquity". Blaise Pichon, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review , 13.07.2020.Table of ContentsForeword List of Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction Methods and Structure: Coverage  Methods and Structure: Approach and Evidence  Methods and Structure: Definitions 1 Late Antiquity and the City Historical Background  Urban Evolutions in Late Antiquity  Conclusions 2 Baths, Aqueducts and Water Introduction Early Imperial Baths and Aqueducts  Baths in Late Antiquity  Aqueducts in Late Antiquity  Trends and Causes  Conclusions 3 Spectacle Buildings  Introduction  Early Imperial Spectacle Buildings  Spectacle Buildings in Late Antiquity  Trends and Causes  Conclusions 4 Reuse and Public Buildings  Past Study  Reuse in the Early Empire  Conceptualising and Categorising Reuse  The Reuse of Public Architecture in the Late Antique West,  ca.300–600  Overall Trends 165  Reuse and the Late Antique City  Conclusions 5 Analysis and Discussion  Explanations for the Demise and Reuse of this Group of Public  buildings  Public Buildings and the Late Antique City Conclusion Appendix I: Timeline of Dates and Events Appendix II: Benefaction in the Western Empire Appendix III: Tables Bibliography  Ancient Textual Editions  Modern Sources Index

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Book SynopsisThis book involves a new historiographical study of the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia that defines its relationship with fifth- and fourth-century historical works as well as its role as a source of Diodorus’ Bibliotheke. The traditional and common approach taken by those who studied the HO is primarily historical: scholars have focused on particular, often isolated, topics such as the question of the authorship, the historical perspective of the HO against other Hellenica from the 4th century BC. This book is unconventional in that it offers a study of the HO and fifth- and fourth-century historical works supported by papyrological enquiries and literary strategies, such as intertextuality and narratology, which will undoubtedly contribute to the progress of research in ancient historiography.Trade Review"The book under review is the first systematic comparison of the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia with a range of historians beyond the canonical comparanda (e.g. Thucydides and Xenophon), and it also recurs to narratology to understand the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia. (...) the essay will remain an important contribution in any future study of the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia and of fourth century historiography." - Salvatore Tufano, in: Sehepunkte, Ausgabe 17 Nr. 9 (2017) ''Occhipinti’s analysis is a refreshing contribution and stimulus in the renewed discussions on Diodorus. (…) I think Occhipinti largely meets the targets she (or the series editors) set her(self). I at least found it a joy to read this book.'' - Jan Stronk, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2017.10.39 "Occhipintis gründliche Studie richtet sich primär an Spezialisten der griechischen Historiographie, kann aber auch Lesern mit Interesse an allgemeiner griechischer Geschichte des 5.–4.Jh.s empfohlen werden." - Johannes Engels, in: Historische Zeitschrift 307 (2018) "Die elegant und gut lesbar geschriebene Studie von E. Occhipinti versucht eine neue Gesamtcharakterisierung der Darstellungsprinzipien des Autors und eine Beschreibung seines historiographischen Zugriffes." - Bruno Bleckmann, in: Gnomon 91 (2019)Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements 1 The HO in the View of Modern Scholars 1.1 The Authorship 1.2 A New Proposal and Old Theories 1.3 The HO and Xenophon’s Hellenica part 1 2 The Work and the Reader 2.1 The Narrative Character of Fourth-Century Hellenica 2.2 P. Oxy. V 842: Annalistic Framework, Synchronistic Narrative 2.3 The Historian’s Evaluation and Its Impact on the Readers 2.4 Conclusion 3 Spartan Motivations: the HO and Xenophon 3.1 Greek Hostility and Sparta’s Reasons 3.2 Sparta’s Asiatic Campaign and Its Analysis 3.3 Agesilaus’ Motivations and the Lasting Significance of the Spartan Campaign in Asia 3.4 The End of a Dream? 3.5 Conclusion 4 Diodorus, the HO and Xenophon: A Reassessment 4.1 The HO as a Source for Diodorus’ Bibliotheke 4.2 Diodorus’ Thirteenth Book and the Florence Papyrus 4.3 Diodorus, the Cairo Papyrus and Xenophon 4.4 Diodorus on Theramenes: Final Observations 4.5 Conclusion part 2 5 The HO and Athenian Polypragmosyne 5.1 Athenian πολυπραγμοσύνη: a Literary Topos 5.2 A Fourth-Century Debate? 5.3 Multa per Aequora… Sea Power and Athenian Motivation 5.4 Cnidus According to the Oxyrhynchus Historian: a Solely Persian Success 5.5 Conclusion 6 Terra Marique… 6.1 Decelea, or the Supremacy of Land over Sea 6.2 The Sea as a Barrier 6.3 τὸ συμπολιτεύειν: Thebes versus Boeotia? 6.4 Conclusion 6.5 Analytical Description of the Toponyms Occurring in the HO 7 Historiography and Hegemony 7.1 Sparta, or the Undisputed Hegemony 7.2 Diodorus and the Debate on Hegemony 7.3 Political Realities and Historiographical Simplifications 7.4 Conclusion 8 Historical Causation 8.1 Why Do Things Happen? 8.2 To Blame or not to Blame… Individual and Collective Responsibilities 8.3 Visibility and Clarity in Historical Causation 8.4 Thebes, or Intra-Greek Hostility 8.5 Stasis, or the Dimension of Internal Conflict. What Awareness of Thucydides? 8.6 Conclusion 9 ‘Moralism’ in Historiography 9.1 The HO and Thucydides: What ‘Moralism’? 9.2 ‘Moralism,’ ‘Morality,’ and Moral Lessons 9.3 Theopompus: ‘Moralism’ versus ‘Morality’? 9.4 Praise/Blame in Ephorus? 9.5 Conclusion Conclusion Appendix 1 A New Supplement for Lines 31–32 of the Theramenes Papyrus (P. Mich. 5982) 2 History, Oratory and Their Audiences 3 Diodorus and Rome 4 Translations Bibliography Index of Names Thematic Index

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Book SynopsisOver the past decades, archaeological field surveys and excavations have greatly enriched our knowledge of the Roman countryside Drawing on such new data, the volume The Economic Integration of Roman Italy, edited by Tymon de Haas and Gijs Tol, presents a series of papers that explore the changes Rome’s territorial and economic expansion brought about in the countryside of the Italian peninsula. By drawing on a variety of source materials (e.g. pottery, settlement patterns, environmental data), they shed light on the complexity of rural settlement and economies on the local, regional and supra-regional scales. As such, the volume contributes to a re-assessment of Roman economic history in light of concepts such as globalisation, integration, economic performance and growth.Trade Review"(...) This volume succeeds in the ambitious aim of shedding new light on aspects of Roman economics, as well as convince of the need for future studies that better integrate macro and micro-scale analysis of archaeological evidence". - Martin Pitts, in: Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018: 1674-1676 "Die Lektüre des Bandes ist somit allen, die sich für römische Geschichte und Archäologie in Italien – und darüber hinaus – interessieren, nachdrücklich empfohlen." - Günther Schörner, in: 2019

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Book SynopsisOn the Agora traces the evolution of the main public square of the Greek polis for the six centuries from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the height of the Roman Empire and the Herulian invasion of Greece in 267 AD. Drawing on literary, epigraphic and, especially, archaeological evidence, the book takes a comparative approach to consider how the layout and function of agoras in cities throughout Greece changed during centuries that witnessed far reaching transformations in culture, society and political life. The book challenges the popular view of the post-Classical agora as characterised by decline, makes important arguments about how we use evidence to understand ancient public spaces and proposes many new interpretations of individual sites.Trade Review"This book traces the architectural evolution of the Greek agora in the post-Classical polis and represents a significant contribution to studies of urbanism and public space in the ancient world. The narrative of this evolution is driven by D.’s careful and critical examination of archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence. (...) In short, this is a long and ambitious study that offers a fresh perspective on Hellenistic and Roman Greece." - Elizabeth P. Baltes, in: The Classical Review, 1-3 (published online: 13 December 2017) "Overall, this volume provides a thorough presentation of the transformation of the Greek agora during the Hellenistic and Roman periods on the mainland. It will surely be an excellent reference for students and scholars who are working on civic architecture and urbanism." - Samantha L. Martin-McAuliffe, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.02.06 " A good introductory section on the ambiguities in conceptually and physically defining an agora is followed by longer sections on the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Dickenson (Oxford) reexamines archaeological and literary evidence from the ground up with no assumptions (...) This book is also useful as an up-to-date review of current thinking on Greek and Roman public spaces (religious, economic, and political) and city design in general. Color and black-and-white photos and diagrams and remarkably clear, pleasant writing make this work suitable for all levels. Although everything is skillfully historically contextualized, no extensive knowledge of Greek history is assumed: even persons broadly interested in urbanism may enjoy this book." - T. Doran, in: Choice Connect, July 2017 "Der Verf[asser] legt folglich nicht nur eine archäologisch-architekturgeschichtliche, sondern darüber hinaus auch kulturgeschichtliche Studie vor. Die Breite der Quellenbasis ebenso wie die inhaltliche Tiefe sind beeindruckend: Neben den architektonischen Resten sind auch die Inschriften und Texte antiker Autoren berücksichtigt (...) Die inhaltliche Argumentation ist stets breit abgestützt und ausgewogen, der Verf[asser] gibt Diskussionen viel Raum und lässt zahlreiche Stimmen aus der Sekundärliteratur zu Wort kommen. Immer wieder, manchmal auch etwas redundant, wendet sich der Verf. gegen klassizistisch stereotype Forschungsmeinungen, denen er sein neues Bild der griechischen Agora im Hellenismus und der Kaiserzeit gegenüberstellt: vital, selbstbestimmt und heterogen. (...) Aus dem Gesagten dürfte klargeworden sein, dass der Verf. mit dem vorliegenden Buch eine längst überfällige, beeindruckende und zeitgemäße Neuinterpretation der hellenistischen und römischen Agora in Griechenland vorgelegt hat." - Matthias Grawher, in: Anzeiger für die Altertumswissenschaft 70 (December 2017)

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Book SynopsisSyria's Monuments: their Survival and Destruction examines the fate of the various monuments in Syria (including present-day Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine/Israel) from Late Antiquity to the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. It examines travellers’ accounts, mainly from the 17th to 19th centuries, which describe religious buildings and housing in numbers and quality unknown elsewhere. The book charts the reasons why monuments lived or died, varying from earthquakes and desertification to neglect and re-use, and sets the political and social context for the Empire’s transformation toward a modern state, provoked by Western trade and example. An epilogue assesses the impact of the recent civil war on the state of the monuments, and strategies for their resurrection, with plentiful references and web links.Table of ContentsContents Introduction The Extent of Syri Mapping Syria The Syria of Yesterday 1 The State of Syria in Recent Centuries Governance Earthquakes and Disease Trade Circassians and Other Settlers amongst the Monuments Nomadic Arabs Agriculture and Desertification Conclusion: Impact of Ottoman Decline on Antiquities 2 Travel throughout Syria Where to Go and How to Get There Languages, Dress and Descriptions Scholars in the East The Bible as a Guidebook Changing Horizons Meet the Unchanging East Biblical Monuments “Identified” Other Guidebooks: Baedeker, Cook & Murray Confected Guidebooks: An Example Travel then Tourism: The Agony and the Ecstasy Taxes and Robbery Profiteering Sheikhs Haram/Forbidden: Access to Muslim Sites Architectural Quality: Is Syria Worth Visiting? One-upmanship and Verbal Wars in Travel Narratives Modernisation Changes Travelling in the Unchanging East Conclusion 3 The Life and Death of Monuments Superstitions and Monuments Treasure-hunting and Locals’ Knowledge of the Past Vandalism Roads Milestones Bridges Railways Aqueducts Temples Degradation Locals and Antiquities Columns as Structural Tie-bars Mosaics and Veneers Quarries and Marble Re-use Ancient Towns and Villages and Their Houses 4 The Seabord: Harbours and Ports North to South 5 Aleppo and the North 238 6 Damascus and the Centre 262 7 Bosra and the South 287 8 West of the River Jordan 319 9 East of the River Jordan 331 10 Fortresses Roman, Muslim and Crusader 356 11 Mayhem: Archaeology, Museums and Mandates 379 Archaeology Digging in Palestine Filling Western Museums The First World War and the French & British Mandates Conclusion Epilogue: The Monuments of Syria in 2016 Syria: Timelines History of Archaeology and Travel in Syria Recent Political/Military Developments in the Region, and Their Sources Websites Detailing Syria’s Monuments Damaged Sites, Monuments and Museums Photographic Evidence of Destruction in Syria Guides/Surveys of Monuments and Regions Computer Reconstructions Conclusion: Warning about “Restoration” Appendix: Brief Biographies of Traveller-Scholars Bibliography Index Illustrations

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Book SynopsisThe volume The Politics of Honour in the Greek Cities of the Roman Empire, co-edited by Anna Heller and Onno van Nijf, studies the public honours that Greek cities bestowed upon their own citizens and foreign dignitaries and benefactors. These included civic praise, crowns, proedria, public funerals, honorific statues and monuments. The authors discuss the development of this honorific system, and in particular the epigraphic texts and the monuments through which it is accessible. The focus is on the Imperial period (1st-3rd centuries AD). The papers investigate the forms of honour, the procedures and formulae of local practices, as well as the changes in local honorific habits that resulted from the integration of the Greek cities in the Roman Empire.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction: Civic Honours, from Classical to Roman Times  Anna Heller and Onno van Nijf Part 1: The Economy of Honour: Financial and Symbolic Exchanges 1 Praise and Honour  Olivier Gengler 2 Les timai dans le discours civique et moral à la fin du ier siècle ap. J.-C.  Anne Gangloff 3 La gestion des statues honorifiques à Rhodes à la fin du ier siècle ap. J.-C. d’après le Rhodiakos de Dion de Pruse (Or. XXXI)  Henri Fernoux 4 The Financing of Public Honours in Greece during the Roman Imperial Period: The Case of Honorary Statues in the Cities of the Greek Mainland  Francesco Camia Part 2: Honorific Communities: Competition and Negotiation 5 Le témoignage de Chariton d’Aphrodisias sur la pratique civique des honneurs  Sophie Lalanne 6 Un-civic benefactions?: Gifts to Non-citizens and Civic Honours in the Greek Cities of the Roman East  Arjan Zuiderhoek 7 The Refusal of the Highest Honours by Members of the Urban Elites in Roman Asia Minor  Christina T. Kuhn 8 Decrees Awarding Offices for Life and by Hereditary Right as Honours  Nikos Giannakopoulos Part 3: The Impact of Rome: Integration and Domination 9 Romans in the poleis of Greek Mainland and Adjacent Islands: The Evolution of their Relations in the Light of Honorific Texts  Sophia Zoumbaki 10 Les honneurs des cités d’Asie aux proches des gouverneurs  Gabrielle Frija 11 Curateurs de cités et honneurs civiques  Éric Guerber 12 Honouring Senators and Equestrians in the Graeco-Roman East  Annika B. Kuhn 13 Le premier des citoyens à Pergame sous le Haut-Empire : C. Antius Aulus Iulius Quadratus  Olivier Ventroux Part 4: Cities and Empire: Honours between Local and Global 14 Martyriai: Civic Honours and Imperial Government  Christina Kokkinia 15 On the Rhetoric of Imperial Majesty: Elements of the Ideological Interaction between Emperor and Imperial Society on the Basis of Civic Decrees, Imperial Pronouncements and Literary Testimonies in the Greek East  Kostas Buraselis 16 “στᾶ[ν]αι δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ φυλὴν ἀνδριάντας ἐν τῷ προσκηνίῳ”: Honorary Statues in the Theatres of Roman Greece  Valentina Di Napoli 17 The Agora as Setting for Honorific Statues in Roman Greece  Christopher Dickenson 18 L’iconographie des honneurs civiques statuaires pour les notables d’époque impériale  Martin Szewczyk 19 Le reflet des honneurs  Jean-Baptiste Yon Index

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Book SynopsisIn Painted Pottery of Honduras Rosemary Joyce describes the development of the Ulua Polychrome tradition in Honduras from the fifth to sixteenth centuries AD, and critically examines archaeological research on these objects that began in the nineteenth century. Previously treated as a marginal product of Classic Maya society, this study shows that Ulua Polychromes are products of the ritual and social life of indigenous societies composed of wealthy farmers engaged in long-distance relationships extending from Costa Rica to Mexico. Drawing on concepts of agency, practice, and intention, Rosemary Joyce takes a potter's perspective and develops a generational workshop model for innovation by communities of practice who made and used painted pottery in serving meals and locally meaningful ritual practices.Table of ContentsList of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction Part One: Using Pots Chapter One: Forming Intentions Chapter Two: Feasting Families Chapter Three: Telling Stories Chapter Four: Honoring Ancestors Chapter Five: Burying Pots Part Two: Understanding Fragments Chapter Six: Collecting Pots Chapter Seven: Making Time Chapter Eight: Finding Places Chapter Nine: Tracing Boundaries Chapter Ten: Picturing Meaning Epilogue Afterword Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn The Socio-economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom, Ali Çifçi presents a detailed study of the life of the highland communities of eastern Anatolia, Armenia and north-west Iran between the 9th and 6th centuries BC. In doing so, the author uses archaeological excavations, surveys, and textual evidence from both Urartian and Assyrian sources, as well as original ethnographic observations, within the context of the geographical setting of the Urartu Kingdom. This book investigates various aspects of the Urartian Kingdom from its economic resources and the movement of commodities (agriculture, animal husbandry, metallurgy, trade, etc.) to the management of those resources and the administrative organisation of the state. This includes the Urartian concept of kingship and the king’s role in administration, construction, the division of the kingdom, as well as the income generated by warfare. "There are several key philological and archaeological works that propel the field of Urartian studies and provide dialogue partners for Urartologists and historians of Anatolia and the ancient Near East...Ali Çifçi’s The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom can be included as a partner in dialogue when researching Urartu and Iron Age Anatolian archaeology..." Selim Ferruh Adalı, Social Sciences University of Ankara, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.07.22.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Figures List of Tables List of Maps Abbreviations 1 A Critical Review of the Material  1.1 Introduction  1.2 Methodology and the Structure of the Book  1.3 Topography, Hydrology, Climate and Ecology  1.4 The Source Material 2 Control of Capital in Urartu: Economic Resources and Movement of Commodities  2.1 Agricultural Activities  2.2 Animal Husbandry  2.3 Metallurgy  2.4 Trade  2.5 Crafts 3 Economic and Administrative Structure of the Urartian Kingdom  3.1 Administrative Divisions  3.2 Building Activities of the Monarch  3.3 The Army  3.4 The Spoils of War  3.5 The Monarchy Conclusion Appendix 1 Urartian Kings and Chronology Appendix 2 Urartian Kings and Chronology Bibliography

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Book SynopsisEgyptologists have been debating for decades about whether or not Egyptian images classify as art. Nevertheless, the term ‘art’ still serves as a guiding concept for Egyptology. Kai Widmaier offers an overview of how different art-historical interpretive methods influence Egyptological research. His study demonstrates that, due to its adherence to the term art, Egyptology has considerably dissociated Egyptian images from their original contexts. Bilderwelten combines the analysis of Egyptian images from the 6th to the 18th Dynasty with methodological reflection. This leads to both a new terminology of style as well as to an alternative approach to Egyptian images. By differentiating systematically between Egyptian images and Egyptological art, this book lays the foundation for an Egyptology that follows the path of Visual Studies instead of adhering to questionable art-historical methods.Table of ContentsVorwort Abstract Abstract (English) Abkürzungsverzeichnis Abbildungsverzeichnis Einleitung TEIL I: ÄGYPTISCHE KUNST? 1 Ägyptische Kunst: Diskussion um einen Forschungsgegenstand 1.1 Problematisierungen 1.2 Zu Versuchen einer ‚Rettung der Kunst‘ für die Ägyptologie 1.3 Kunstgeschichte und Kontinuitätsfiktion: Erfahrung und Erleben ‚ägyptischer Kunst‘ 1.4 Ästhetik und anthropologische Konstanten im interkulturellen Zusammenhang 1.5 Ägyptische Kunst? Eine vorläufige Zusammenschau zu Begriffsverzicht und Anführungszeichen TEIL II: BILDER – STILE – KONTEXTE 2 Stil und Geschichte: Zur Bildkultur der 6.–12. Dynastie und ihren ägypt(olog)ischen Kontexten 2.1 Periodisierungen und das Rezeptionsmuster der Zwischenzeit 2.2 Geschichte(n) und Lesarten: Zum ägyptologischen Topos der 1. Zwischenzeit 2.3 Bilder im Spiegel von Epochenbildern und ägyptologischen Kontexten 2.4 (Un)möglichkeiten zwischen Stil und Geschichte: Eine Zusammenschau mit einem Ausblick auf die 18. Dynastie TEIL III: VON ÄGYPTISCHEN BILDERN UND ÄGYPTOLOGISCHER KUNST 3 Rückschau und Ausblick 3.1 Kunstbegriffe, Historisierungen und der museale Blick 3.2 Prolegomena für künftige bildwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Glossar Literaturverzeichnis Indices Tafeln

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Book SynopsisThis volume, Overturning Certainties in Near Eastern Archaeology, is a festschrift dedicated to Professor K. Aslıhan Yener in honor of over four decades of exemplary research, teaching, fieldwork, and publication. The thirty-five chapters presented by her colleagues includes a broad, interdisciplinary range of studies in archaeology, archaeometry, art history, and epigraphy of the Ancient Near East, especially reflecting Prof Yener’s interests in metallurgy, small finds, trade, Anatolia, and the site of Tell Atchana/Alalakh. "The richness of this volume inevitably emerges from those contributions on exchange and technology using philology and/or archaeology." - David A. Warburton, Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations, Northeast Normal University, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 76,1-2 (2019)Trade Review"The richness of this volume inevitably emerges from those contributions on exchange and technology using philology and/or archaeology." - David A. Warburton, Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations, Northeast Normal University, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 76,1-2 (2019)

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Book SynopsisIn December 2009, an international congress was held at Ghent University in order to investigate, exactly 20 years after the 36th RAI “Mésopotamie et Elam”, the present state of our knowledge of the Elamite and Susean society from archaeological, philological, historical and geographical points of view. The multidisciplinary character of this congress illustrates the present state of research in the socio-economic, historical and political developments of the Suso-Elamite region from prehistoric times until the great Persian Empire. Because of its strategically important location between the Mesopotamian alluvial plain and the Iranian highlands and its particular interest as point of contact between civilizations, Susa and Elam were of utmost importance for the history of the ancient Near East in general.Table of ContentsPart I: Archaeological and Carchaeological-Historical Perspectives Chapter 1: New South-East Iranian Glyptic Evidence Enrico Ascalone Chapter 2: New Evidences on Emergence of Complex Societies in the Central Iranian Plateau M. Hessari and R. Yousefi Zoshk Chapter 3: The Trans-Tigridian Corridor in the Early Third Millennium BC Steve Renette Chapter 4: Elam and Eshnunna. Historical and Archaeological Interrelations during the Old Babylonian Period Luca Peyronel Chapter 5: Transferts culturels de la Babylonie vers Suse au milieu du 2e millénaire av. n. Ère Hermann Gasche Chapter 6: Elams Kulturkontakte mit seinen Nachbarn im Spiegel der Glyptik des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr. Georg Neumann Chapter 7: In the Shadow of Kurangun: Cultural Developments in the Highlands between Khuzestan and Anšan Daniel T. Potts Chapter 8: Essai d’application de la méthode de la psychologie environnementale à travers l’exemple de la ville méso-élamite de Dûr-untaš (Tchoga-zanbil, Iran), site inscrit au patrimoine monial de l’Unesco Zsolt G. Lantos Chapter 9: Some Chronological Aspects of the Building Structures at Haft Tappeh Nasrabadi Behzad Mofidi Chapter 10: Distribution, Materials and Functions of the “Wall Knobs” in the Near Eastern Late Bronze Age: from South-Western Iran to the Middle Euphrates Françelin Tourtet Chapter 11: Re-assessing Elamite Highland Boundaries: New Evidence for the Middle and Neo-Elamite Periods in the Mamasani Valleys, South-Western Iran Bernadette McCall Chapter 12: Braids of Glory. Elamite SCulptural Reliefs from the Highlands: Kūl-e Farah IV Javier Alvarez-Mon Chapter 13: From Susa to Persepolis: The Pseudo-Sealing of the Persepolis Bronze Plaque Gian Pietro Basello Chapter 14: Seal Impressions from Susa. Re-evaluating Some of the Findings in Susa Available in the National Museum of Iran and Introducing Some Unpublished Samples Sedigheh Piran Part II: Philological, Philological-Historical and Historical Perspectives Chapter 15: Ur-Nammâ(k)’s Conquest of Susa Gianni Marchesi Chapter 16: Puzur-Inšušinak at Susa: A Pivotal Episode of Early Elamite History reconsidered Piotr Steinkeller Chapter 17: Les premiers sukkalmah et des derniers rois de Simaški Jean-Jacques Glassner Chapter 18: La «suprématie Élamite» sur les Amorrites. Réexamen, vingt ans après la XXXVIe RAI (1989) Jean-Marie Durand Chapter 19: «Ainsi parle l’empereur» à propos de la correspondance des sukkalmah Dominique Charpin Chapter 20: Prosopographische Untersuchungen anhand der Rechtsurkunden aus Susa Sadafi Sheyda Jalilvand Chapter 21: Scribal Training in Old Babylonian Susa Mehrnoush Malayeri Chapter 22: Abiešuh, Elam and Ashurbanipal: New Evidence from Old Babylonian Sippar Frans van Koppen Chapter 23: Sugirs of Anšan Matthew W. Stolper Chapter 24: Approche historique et philologique du titre royal ‘likame/we rišakki’ Stéphanie Anthonioz and Florence Malbran-Labat Chapter 25: Beziehungen zweier Groβmächte – Elam und Babylonien in der 2. Hälfte des 2. Jt. v. Chr. Ein Beitrag zur internen Chronologie Susanne Paulus Chapter 26: Dynamics of the Fall: Ashurbanipal’s Conquest of Elam Peter Dubovsky Chapter 27: Elamite and Iranian Afterlife Concepts Jan Tavernier Part III: Geographical Perspectives Chapter 28: Geoarchaeological Research in Lower Khuzestan: State of the Art Vanessa M.A. Heyvaert, Peter Verkinderen and Jan Walstra

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Book SynopsisThe Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, is a Festschrift celebrating the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Oscar Muscarella is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a formidable scholar who has excavated at sites in Turkey, Iran, and the United States. He has published eight books and nearly 200 articles, excavation reports, and reviews on topics ranging from the arts of antiquity and the importance of connoisseurship, to the difficulties of dating and the problems of forgeries, the looting of ancient sites, and the antiquities trade. The forty-seven contributors are experts in the areas of Muscarella’s interests and are major scholars in their fields. This volume constitutes an unusual, important, and timely addition to the archaeological and art historical literature.Table of ContentsPreface Oscar White Muscarella Introduction  Elizabeth Simpson Part 1: “There is Nothing like First-hand Evidence” 1 Oscar White Muscarella and Sherlock Holmes  Laurie Adams Part 2: Arts and Archaeology: Anatolia 2 The King Has Ass’s Ears! The Myth of Midas’s Ears  Susanne Berndt 3 The Project to Reconstruct the Early Bronze Age Hattıan Royal Tombs of Alaca Höyük  Aykut Çınaroğlu 4 The Lydian Hoard and Its Progeny: Repatriation and the Statute of Limitations  Lawrence M. Kaye 5 Labors Lost and Found in Tumulus mm at Gordion  Richard F. Liebhart 6 A Pithos Burial at Sardis  David Gordon Mitten 7 Attitudes toward the Past in Roman Phrygia: Survivals and Revivals  Lynn E. Roller 8 The City Mound at Gordion: The Discovery, Study, and Conservation of the Wooden Fragments from Megaron 3  Krysia Spirydowicz 9 Monumental Entrances, Sculpture, and Idols at Kerkenes: Aspects of Phrygian Cult East of the Kizilirmak  Geoffrey Summers and Françoise Summers 10 Of Fibulae, Of Course!  Maya Vassileva Part 3: Arts and Archaeology: Urartu 11 Artifacts Belonging to Queen Qaquli and Mr. Tigursagga from an Elaborately Decorated Quarter of the Ayanis Fortress  Altan Çilingiroğlu 12 A Fragment of a Ram’s Head Rhyton Found at Qalatgah, Iran  Stephan Kroll 13 Toul-E Gilan and the Urartian Empire  D.T. Potts 14 Some Considerations on Urartian Burial Rites  Veli Sevin 15 Architectural and Other Observations Related to Erebuni in the Late Seventh/Early Sixth Centuries b.c.  David Stronach Part 4: Arts and Archaeology: The Near East 16 Neo-Assyrian Views of Foreign Cities: A Brief Survey  Pauline Albenda 17 The Role of the Petra Great Temple in the Context of Nabataean Archaeology  Martha Sharp Joukowsky 18 Fibulae in Neo-Assyrian Burials  Friedhelm Pedde 19 Fibulae, Chronology, and Related Considerations: Marlik Reloaded  Christian Konrad Piller 20 A Middle Bronze Stele from Hama and Old Syrian Cylinder Seals  Barbara A. Porter 21 A Unique Human Head-Cup from the Environs of Tel Qashish in the Jezreel Valley, Israel  Irit Ziffer, Edwin C.M. van den Brink, Orit Segal and Uzi Ad Part 5: Arts and Archaeology: The Mediterranean World 22 Back to the Future: Memory, Nostalgia, and Identity in the 12th Century b.c.e. on Paros  Robert B. Koehl 23 Liturgy  Günter Kopcke 24 What Did the Fisherman Catch?  Mark J. Rose 25 The Weight of Good Measure: A Reassessment of the Balance Weights from the Late Bronze Age Shipwreck at Uluburun  Rachael Dealy Salisbury Part 6: Arts—Craft—Materials—Techniques 26 Kyme: An Ancient Center of Jewelry Production in Asia Minor  Özgen Acar 27 Voicing the Past: The Implications of Craft-referential Pottery in Ancient Greece  Einav Zamir Dembin 28 The Neoclassical Klismos Chair: Early Sources and Avenues of Diffusion  Ana Gutierrez-Folch 29 The Furniture of the Ramesside Pharaohs  Geoffrey Killen 30 Excavated Roman Jewelry: The Case of the Gold Body Chains  Meredith Nelson 31 Ivory Identification  Anibal Rodriguez 32 Luxury Arts of the Ancient Near East  Elizabeth Simpson Part 7: Issues and Methods 33 The Literature of Loot: Notes on The Lie Became Great and Its Heirs  Roger Atwood 34 Oscar the Oracle: On the Publication of Unprovenienced Objects  Larissa Bonfante 35 The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre: Afterthoughts and Aftermaths  Neil Brodie 36 Illicit Traffic of Pre-Columbian Antiquities  Clemency Chase Coggins 37 The History and Continuing Impact of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (nagpra)  Emily Field 38 Connoisseurship Conundrums and a Visit to Hans Hofmann’s Studio  Carroll Janis 39 Blue from Babylon: Notes from the Curatorial Trenches  Margaret Cool Root and Helen Dixon 40 “Outing” the Old Teaching Collections  Karen D. Vitelli 41 Figure and Ground: Reading Ancient Near Eastern Sources  Eva von Dassow Part 8: “Leave No Stone Unturned” 42 “Elementary”  Jeanette Greenfield Master Bibliography Index of Terms Authors’ Biographies

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Book SynopsisIn the 12th Dynasty (ca. 1985-1773 BC) the Egyptian state sent a number of seafaring expeditions to the land of Punt, located somewhere in the southern Red Sea region, in order to bypass control of the upper Nile by the Kerma kingdom. Excavations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis on the Red Sea coast of Egypt from 2001 to 2011 have uncovered evidence of the ancient harbor (Saww) used for these expeditions, including parts of ancient ships, expedition equipment and food – all transported ca. 150 km across the desert from Qift in Upper Egypt to the harbor. This book summarizes the results of these excavations for the organization of these logistically complex expeditions, and evidence at the harbor for the location of Punt. “[There] is no shortage of analysis relating to the Punt expeditions, much of which is likely to become the new ‘standard’ account of these voyages and of the huge logistical and ideological undertaking they represented. The volume will therefore be of immense value to scholars and students of ancient Egypt, and of ancient seafaring more generally.” - Julian Whitewright, University of Southampton, in: The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 48.2 (2019)Trade Review“[There] is no shortage of analysis relating to the Punt expeditions, much of which is likely to become the new ‘standard’ account of these voyages and of the huge logistical and ideological undertaking they represented. The volume will therefore be of immense value to scholars and students of ancient Egypt, and of ancient seafaring more generally.” - Julian Whitewright, University of Southampton, in: The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 48.2 (2019)Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of Illustrations 1 Egyptian Long-distance Trade, Pharaonic Expeditions and Direct Control of Sources of Raw Materials in Northeast Africa and the Sinai in the Middle Kingdom  Introduction  Mining Turquoise and Copper in the Sinai  The Harbor Site at Ayn Soukhna  Mining Galena at Gebel Zeit  Mining Gold and Quarrying Stone in the Wadi Hammamat  Nubian Resources and Egyptian Occupation  The Harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 2 Archaeological Investigations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  The Pharaonic Harbor at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Archaeological Investigations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Evidence of Ships and Cargo Boxes  Sealings, Stelae and Ostraca  Ceramics  Stone Tools  Plant and Animal Remains  Environmental Context of the Harbor Site  Chronology of the Harbor Site  Summary: Archaeological and Geological Investigations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 3 Spatial Use of the Mersa/Wadi Gawasis Harbor in the 12th Dynasty  Overview  The Eastern Terrace  The Harbor  Central Terrace and Western Terrace Top  Western Terrace Slope  Western Terrace Slope, North  Western Terrace Slope, South  Caves 2 and 3  Cave 5  Cave 7 and the Alcove Shrine  Harbor Edge  Production Area  Ramps (slipways?)  Western Terrace, Southern Slope  Beach Area above the Harbor  Stelae Associated with the Gallery-Caves  Spatial Organization of the Harbor of Saww Compared to the Harbors at Ayn Soukhna and Wadi El-Jarf 4 Organization of Mersa/Wadi Gawasis Seafaring Expeditions in the 12th Dynasty: The Textual Evidence  Textual Evidence at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Stelae  Cargo Box Inscriptions  Sealings and Papyri  Ostraca  Two Wooden Tags  Dates of Known Expeditions Based on Textual Evidence  Translation by Eugene Cruz-Uribe† of the Hieroglyphic Text of the Ankhu Stela (Eastern Jamb, Central Block, and Western Jamb) Found at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis by A.M. Sayed and Recorded in These Articles 5 Organization of Seafaring Expeditions from Mersa/Wadi Gawasis in the 12th Dynasty: Archaeological Evidence at the Harbor  Archaeological Evidence of Seafaring Expeditions at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Shipbuilding  Ship Technology  Ship Wood  Cargo Boxes  Rope/Ship Rigging  Linen: Ship Sails, Caulking(?), and Clothing  Copper Alloy Strips for Ship Timber Fastenings  Other Expedition Supplies: Clothing, Footwear, Camp Furnishings  Egyptian Ceramics at the Harbor Site  Non-Egyptian Ceramics at the Harbor Site  Shelter for Expedition Members  Food Supplies and Storage, Food Processing and Baking/Cooking  Local Production of Stone Tools  Non-Egyptian Stone Tools at the Harbor Site  Summary Appendix: Bread Baking Experiments  Ancient Egyptian Bread Making  Evidence of Bread Making at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Experimenting with Middle Kingdom Bread Making  Conclusions 6 Interpreting Ideology at Saww: Ritual Practices, Memorial Shrines, and Commemorative Stelae  Ceremonial Shrines and Commemorative Stelae at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Shrines Constructed along the Red Sea Coast  Shrines/Monuments on the Terrace Top Overlooking Wadi Gawasis  The Alcove Shrine along the Western Terrace Slope  Stelae  Stelae in Monumental Structures  Stelae at Mersa Gawasis  Stelae Placed in Niches Carved in the Western Terrace Wall  Use of Stelae at Saww  Mersa/Wadi Gawasis Stelae and the Gods  Archaeology of Ritual and Religion at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 7 The Land of Punt: A View from Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  Punt and Mersa/Wadi Gawasis  The Land of Punt: Egyptian Evidence  Location of Punt: Natural Resources (Figure 41)  The Land of Punt: Cultural Evidence (Figure 43)  Punt and Bia-Punt, and the Evidence from Mersa/Wadi Gawasis: Inscriptions  Punt and the Evidence from Mersa/WadiGawasis: Paleoethnobotanical Remains and Lithics  Punt and the Evidence from Mersa/Wadi Gawasis: Exotic Ceramics  Location of Bia-Punt and Punt: Ceramic Evidence at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis 8 Long-distance Routes Involved in the Punt Expeditions  Routes from Egypt to Punt/Bia-Punt  The Levant and Maritime Trade with Punt  Land Routes from the Nile Valley to the Red Sea Coast  Sea Route to and from the Southern Red Sea  Land Routes in Punt/Bia-Punt  Maritime Expeditions to Punt/Bia-Punt 9 The 12th Dynasty Punt/Bia-Punt Expeditions from Mersa/Wadi Gawasis References Index

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Book SynopsisIn The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus, Christian H. Bull argues that the treatises attributed to Hermes Trismegistus reflect the spiritual exercises and ritual practices of loosely organized brotherhoods in Egypt. These small groups were directed by Egyptian priests educated in the traditional lore of the temples, but also conversant with Greek philosophy. Such priests, who were increasingly dispossessed with the gradual demise of the Egyptian temples, could find eager adherents among a Greek-speaking audience seeking for the wisdom of the Egyptian Hermes, who was widely considered to be an important source for the philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato. The volume contains a comprehensive analysis of the myths of Hermes Trismegistus, a reevaluation of the Way of Hermes, and a contextualization of this ritual tradition.Trade Review"Bull’s work represents an accessible yet profound and thoughtful introduction and handbook to the Hermetica, providing both a fair and thorough summary of previous work and a lucid approach to understanding them, and it is likely to become an invaluable reference work and source of further ideas in years to come." - Korshi Dosoo, Würzburg, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2020.02.23. "Par sa qualité, ses ambitions et ses positions interprétatives, l’ouvrage ne méritait pas une collection moins prestigieuse (...) Aussi peut-on être certain que cette thèse brillante fera date dans les études sur l’hermétisme." - Florian Audureau, Université Paris Diderot Paris 7, Revue de l'histoire des religions 1, 2020.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction  1.1 The Status Quaestionis  1.2 The Aim of the Present Contribution  1.3 Theoretical Considerations Part 1: Who is Hermes Trismegistus? 2 The Myth of Hermes Trismegistus  2.1 The Egyptian Pre-History of the Thrice-Greatest Thoth  2.2 Greek Sources for the Egyptian Hermes 3 The Primordial Egyptian Kings in the Hermetica  3.1 SH XXIII (Korê Kosmou): An Egyptian Account of Creation  3.2 SH XXIV: The Emanations of Royal Souls  3.3 SH XXV: Cosmology and the Location of the Royal Souls  3.4 SH XXVI: Hermes as a Royal Soul  3.5 CH I: Poimandres the King  3.6 Kmeph and Protology in the Hermetica  3.7 De Anima: The Creation of the Souls and the Primal Human  3.8 The Bronze Age in CH I: Erroneous Love and Its Remedy  3.9 The Hermetic Transmigration of Souls  3.10 Hermes, Nature, and the Royal Souls in Manilius’ Astronomica  3.11 Hermes, Nature, and the Royal Souls in Petosiris and Nechepsos  3.12 The Importance of Myth in the Hermetic Tradition Conclusion to Part 1 Part 2: What is the Way of Hermes? 4 Introduction to the Way of Hermes  4.1 Testimonies to the Existence of a “Way”  4.2 The Way of Thoth  4.3 The Order of the Tradition  4.4 Conversion  4.5 First Stage: Knowing Oneself  4.6 Second Stage: Becoming a Stranger to the World 5 The Ritual of Rebirth  5.1 CH XIII: General Remarks  5.2 The Phase of Separation  5.3 Limen: The Threshold Phase  5.4 The Aggregation or Incorporation Phase  5.5 Concluding Remarks on the Rebirth 6 Heavenly Ascent: The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI,6)  6.1 Introduction: The Sequence of the Tradition (52,1–13)  6.2 Explanation of Spiritual Generation (52,14–55,23)  6.3 The Visionary Ascent (55,24–61,17)  6.4 Epilogue: Erection of a Votive Stela (61,18–63,32) Conclusion to Part 2 Part 3: Who Were the Hermetists?—Situating the Way of Hermes 7 The True Philosophy of Hermes  7.1 The Way of Hermes as a Philosophical School  7.2 Philosophy as a Hermetic Self-Designation  7.3 The Hermetic Science of the Stars  7.4 Priestly Philosophers 8 The Magician and the Temple  8.1 On the Term ‘Magic’  8.2 The Thebes-Cache  8.3 Hermetism in the Thebes-Cache?  8.4 Thessalos and Thebes  8.5 Vision and Divination  8.6 Rebirth and Ascent: The Mithras or Pšai-Aion Liturgy 9 The Egyptian Priesthoods and Temples  9.1 Egyptian Priests as Purveyors of Native Tradition  9.2 The Idealized Priests of Chaeremon and the Perfect Discourse  9.3 The Temple as a Dwelling-Place of Priests and Gods  9.4 Egypt as the Temple of the World and The Twilight of Its Gods  9.5 The New Law  9.6 The Hermetic Sitz-im-Leben: A Suggestion Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn Architecture and Asceticism Loosley Leeming presents the first interdisciplinary exploration of Late Antique Syrian-Georgian relations available in English. The author takes an inter-disciplinary approach and examines the question from archaeological, art historical, historical, literary and theological viewpoints to try and explore the relationship as thoroughly as possible. Taking the Georgian belief that ‘Thirteen Syrian Fathers’ introduced monasticism to the country in the sixth century as a starting point, this volume explores the evidence for trade, cultural and religious relations between Syria and the Kingdom of Kartli (what is now eastern Georgia) between the fourth and seventh centuries CE. It considers whether there is any evidence to support the medieval texts and tries to place this posited relationship within a wider regional context.Table of ContentsPreface Note on Transliteration List of Maps List of Figures Introduction: Defining the Geographical and Historical Parameters of this Study Chapter 1: Syrians, Assyrians, Orthodox, Chalcedonians and Monophysites: The Problems of Identifying the Thirteen Fathers Chapter 2: A Parallel Evolution? Issues in Vernacular Architecture and the Development of Church Building in Syria and Georgia Chapter 3: The mystery of the missing objects: Do archaeological artefacts and liturgical objects support the story of (As)Syrians in Kartli? Chapter 4: Symeon and his followers: Stylitism as a cultural trend between Syria and Georgia Chapter 5: The Evidence Written in Stone: An Evaluation of the Relationship (or not) of Syrian and Georgian Ecclesiastical Architecture Chapter 6: The Syrian bema and the Georgian Pre-Altar Cross: A Comparison of the Liturgical Furnishings of the Nave in the two Traditions Chapter 7: An Argument from Silence: The Differing Evidence in the Syriac and Georgian Language Sources Chapter 8: The Unknown Factors: Evidence from the Cave Monasteries and the Significance of Georgian Vernacular Religion as a Relic of Earlier Ritual Practices Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWritten by an international cast of experts, The Materiality of Text showcases a wide range of innovative methodologies from ancient history, literary studies, epigraphy, and art history and provides a multi-disciplinary perspective on the physicality of writing in antiquity. The contributions focus on epigraphic texts in order to gauge questions of their placement, presence, and perception: starting with an analysis of the forms of writing and its perception as an act of physical and cultural intervention, the volume moves on to consider the texts’ ubiquity and strategic positioning within epigraphic, literary, and architectural spaces. The contributors rethink modern assumptions about the processes of writing and reading and establish novel ways of thinking about the physical forms of ancient texts.Trade Review"This generously illustrated book is a welcome publication that should reinvigorate the way in which we read and conceptualize epigraphic texts [...]Since this publication includes essays from the field of epigraphy, philology, and history of art and architecture, it should be of great interest to scholars across ancient disciplines. It represents a wide variety of perspectives, each of them pushing the field of epigraphy forward". Hanna Golab Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2019.06.28. "Oltre alla specificità, un altro punto di forza dell'approccio adottato è la sua multidisciplinarità: storia antica, filologia e archeologia, più giustapposte che in dialogo, forniscono un quadro variegato e coprono un'ampia area, sia geograficamente, sia temporalmente. [...] Il volume ha il merito di ricordarci come nello studio di documenti iscritti, accanto all'esercizio dell'epigrafia come scienza storica, sia utile, e addirittura necessario, affrontare il monumento nella sua complessità. Per questo possiamo essere grati agli autori e agli editori." Filippo Battistoni, Sehepunkte 19 (2019), Nr. 9 [15.09.2019].Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Note on Contributors The Materiality of Text: An Introduction  Andrej Petrovic Part 1: Concepts 1 What is an ἐπιγραφή in Classical Greece?  Athena Kirk 2 The Aesthetics and Politics of Inscriptions in Imperial Greek Literature  Alexei Zadorojnyi Part 2: Contexts Section 1: Epigraphic Spaces 3 The ‘Spatial Dynamics’ of Archaic and Classical Greek Epigram: Conversations among Locations, Monuments, Texts, and Viewer-Readers  Joseph W. Day 4 Lectional Signs in Greek Verse Inscriptions  Valentina Garulli 5 Erasures in Greek Public Documents  P. J. Rhodes Section 2: Literary Spaces: The Materiality of Text in Greek and Roman Literature 6 The Authority of Archaic Greek Epigram  Donald E. Lavigne 7 Writing, Women’s Silent Speech  Michael A. Tueller 8 Hard Verses and Soft Books: The Materials of Elegy  S. J. Heyworth Section 3: Architectural Spaces 9 The Power of the Absent Text: Dedicatory Inscriptions on Greek Sacred Architecture and Altars  Joannis Mylonopoulos 10 Re-Appraising the Value of Same-Text Relationships; a Study of ‘Duplicate’ Inscriptions in the Monumental Landscape at Aphrodisias  Abigail Graham 11 Layers of Urban Life: A Contextual Analysis of Inscriptions in the Public Space of Pompeii  Fanny Opdenhoff 12 Damnatio Memoriae Inscribed: The Materiality of Cultural Repression  Ida Östenberg 13 Inscriptions between Text and Texture: Inscribed Monuments in Public Spaces – A Case Study at Late Antique Ostia  Katharina Bolle 14 Framing Late Antique Texts as Monuments: The Tabula Ansata between Sculpture and Mosaic  Sean V. Leatherbury Indices Index Locorum Index Nominum Index Rerum

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Book SynopsisIn The Representations of Women in the Middle Kingdom Tombs of Officials Ľubica Hudáková offers an in-depth analysis of female iconography in the decorative programme of Middle Kingdom non-royal tombs, highlighting changes and innovations in comparison to the Old Kingdom. Previously considered too uniform, the study represents the first systematic investigation of two-dimensional images of women and reveals their variability in space and time. Hudáková examines the roles appointed to women by analyzing how they are depicted in a variety of contexts. Taking into account their postures, gestures, garments, hairstyles, size of the body, age as well as attributes and tools used by them, along with the scene orientation, she traces diachronic and diatopic developments and regional traditions in the Middle Kingdom tomb decoration.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations 1 Introduction  1.1 The Tomb and Its Decorative Programme as a Source of Analysis 2 The Scope and Purpose of the Study  2.1 Period  2.2 Monuments  2.3 Old versus Middle Kingdom  2.4 Terminology  2.5 Selection of Scenes and Methodology 3 State of Research  3.1 Studies on Women  3.2 Position of Women in the Ancient Egyptian Society and Their Occupations  3.3 Women in the Art of the Old Kingdom 4 Women in Crafts and Trades  4.1 Linen Production—Spinning and Weaving 5 Women in Marsh-Related Activities  5.1 Women Accompanying the Tomb Owner in the Course of Fowling with the Throw-Stick and Spear-Fishing  5.2 Women Accompanying the Tomb Owner in the Course of Fowling with the Clapnet  5.3 Women as Active Fishers and Fowlers 6 Women in Agriculture  6.1 Cultivation of Grain 7 Women in Food Preparation  7.1 Bread-Making and Brewing 8 Women and Crime  8.1 Rendering Accounts 9 Women and Beauty Care  9.1 Hair-Dressing Scene 10 Women Accompanying the Tomb Owner  10.1 Women Accompanying the Tomb Owner in the Course of Mꜣꜣ  10.2 Women Accompanying the Tomb Owner in Other Contexts  10.3 Excursus: Singular Themes in the Tomb of Sarenput I (QH 36) 11 Women and Games, Dance, and Music  11.1 Games and Acrobatic Exercises  11.2 Dance and Festivities  11.3 Music 12 Women in the Burial Procession  12.1 Female Mourners 13 Summary and Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity David Walsh explores how the cult of Mithras developed across the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. and why by the early 5th century the cult had completely disappeared. Contrary to the traditional narrative that the cult was violently persecuted out of existence by Christians, Walsh demonstrates that the cult’s decline was a far more gradual process that resulted from a variety of factors. He also challenges the popular image of the cult as a monolithic entity, highlighting how by the 4th century Mithras had come to mean different things to different people in different places.Trade Review'Scholars and excavators will have a much richer set of causal mechanisms that they can explore and test thanks to Walsh’s work. His book charts new directions in the study of Mithras-worship, and subsequent work on the cult will benefit mightily from engaging with Walsh’s novel framework and ideas.' Matthew M. McCarty, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.08.23. Date accessed: 13 August 2019. Click here. ''Walsh has performed a considerable service in charting the archaeological information, such as it is, relating to the decline after 275 ce of what we may call the institutionalised Roman cult of mithras, in trying to align the discussion of mithraic “decline” and “fate” with developments relating to such topics in related fields, in emphasising alternative narratives, and in pointing out the role of pre-conception and parti-pris in the traditional scenarios''. Richard Gordon in Arys, 17 (2019). NL:"Het verdwijnen van de Mithras-cultus en de sluiting van elk Mithras-heiligdom kunnen niet langer zonder meer worden toegeschreven aan de opkomst van het christendom. In plaats daarvan zullen geleerden en archeologen een veel rijkere reeks causale mechanismen hebben die ze dankzij Walsh’s werk kunnen verkennen en testen. Zijn boek brengt nieuwe richtingen in de studie van de aanbidding van Mithras, en het daaropvolgende werk aan de cultus zal veel baat hebben bij de interactie met Walsh’s nieuwe raamwerk en ideeën". EN: "The end of the Mithras cult and the disappearance of every Mithras shrine can no longer simply be ascribed to the emergence of Christianity. Instead, scholars and archaeologists now have much richer causal mechanisms to explore and test, thanks to Walsh’s work. His book brings new directions to the study of Mithras worship, and future work will significantly benefit from interaction with Walsh’s new framework and ideas". Mark Beumer, in KLEIO-HISTORIA, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 2020 (11).Table of ContentsForeword List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction  Religious Change in Late Antiquity: Changing Scholarly Views  The Cult of Mithras: A Brief Introduction  The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity: Changing Scholarly Views  The Structure of This Volume  Selecting the Evidence  A Note on Terminology 1 The Development of the Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity  The Location of Mithraea  Mithraic Architecture  Mithraic Iconography  Patronage and Membership  Mithraic Hierarchies  Ritual Practice  Variations of the Name ‘Mithras’  Conclusion 2 The Decline of the Cult I: The Evidence  Introduction  The Decline in Construction/Restoration of Mithraea  Mithraea and Wider Patterns of Construction and Repair in Late Antiquity  Charting the Declining Use of Individual Mithraea  Conclusion 3 The Decline of the Cult Part 2: Explaining the Decline  Introduction  Declining Populations  Changing Social Networks  Changes in Mithraic Rituals  Coercion by the Imperial Government  Conclusion 4 The Fate of Mithraea  Introduction  Geographical and Chronological Variation in the Fate of Mithraea  Factors Contributing to the Fate of Mithraea  Conclusion Conclusion Appendix A: Gazetteer of Mithraea Active in the 4th c. and Those That Exhibit Evidence of Christian Iconoclasm  A Britain  B. Germany  C. Noricum  D. Pannonia  E. Dalmatia  F. Italy (Excluding Rome and Ostia)  G. Gaul  H. Spain  I. North Africa  J. The Eastern Mediterranean Appendix B: Mithraea Constructed and Repaired ca. AD 201–400 Bibliography Index Late Antique Archaeology

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Book SynopsisThe Tomb of the Priests of Amun, also known as Bab el-Gasus, was uncovered in 1891 at Deir el-Bahari (Thebes). The site proved to be the largest undisturbed tomb ever found in Egypt, as there were found the intact burials of 153 individuals that lived under the 21st Dynasty (ca. 1069-945 BC). This outstanding find was subsequently divided in lots of antiquities and dispersed by 17 nations. This volume presents the first comprehensive publication of the Italian Lot, kept in the Egyptian Museum of Florence. Besides the formal description of the objects, a critical assessment of the collection is provided regarding the reconstruction of the burial assemblages, the reuse of the burial equipment and the art historical examination of coffin decoration. “Although aimed primarily at specialists, this is a splendid volume and will be easy to use by anyone having an interest in these objects.” -Lester L. Grabbe, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 44.5 (2020)Trade Review“Although aimed primarily at specialists, this is a splendid volume and will be easy to use by anyone having an interest in these objects.” - Lester L. Grabbe, in Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2020Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgments Figures Presentation  M. Cristina Guidotti Shipping Documents and Correspondence Related to the Lot V  M. Cristina Guidotti Part 1 Catalogue Section 1 Coffin Sets  Marianna Zarli and Rogério Sousa Coffin Set of Djedmutiuesankh (A.15) Coffin Set of Tauhenut (A.20) Coffin Set of Khonsumes (A.22) Outer Coffin of an Anonymous Man (A.56) Coffin Set of an Anonymous Woman (A.60) Section 2 Shabtis  Marianna Zarli Section 3 Shabti-Boxes  M. Cristina Guidotti and Deborah Vannucci Part 2 Essays The Reconstruction of the Burial Assemblages  Marianna Zarli Coffin Reuse in the 21st Dynasty: a Case Study of the Bab el-Gasus Coffins in the Egyptian Museum of Florence  Kathlyn Cooney The Coffins from the Tomb of the Priests from an Art Historical Perspective: the Lot V at the Egyptian Museum of Florence  Rogério Sousa Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this study, Jo Stoner investigates the role of domestic material culture in Late Antiquity. Using archaeological, visual and textual evidence from across the Roman Empire, the personal meanings of late antique possessions are revealed through reference to theoretical approaches including object biography. Heirlooms, souvenirs, and gift objects are discussed in terms of sentimental value, before the book culminates in a case study reassessing baskets as an artefact type. This volume succeeds in demonstrating personal scales of value for artefacts, moving away from the focus on economic and social status that dominate studies in this field. It thus represents a new interpretation of domestic material culture from Late Antiquity, revealing how objects transformed houses into homes during this period.

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Book SynopsisIn recent years, storage has come to the fore as a central aspect of ancient economies. However studies have hitherto focused on urban and military storage. Although archaeological excavations of rural granaries are numerous, their evidence has yet to be fully taken into account. Such is the ambition of Rural Granaries in Northern Gaul (Sixth Century BCE – Fourth Century CE). Focusing on northern Gaul, this volume starts by discussing at length the possibility of quantifying storage capacities and, through them, agrarian production. Building on this first part, the second half of the book sketches the evolution of rural storage in Gaul from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity, setting firmly archaeological evidence in the historical context of the Roman Empire.Trade Review"[The book] is always thought-provoking and is appealing in its frankness: the work-in-progress of a group of scholars with a common interest in an important and newly active field, who think differently but who are prepared to engage in reciprocal criticism. It has an extensive bibliography and two useful indices, and is linked (by ‘cat.’) to an online table and bibliography." - John. F. Drinkwater, in: BMCR 2019.12.11Table of ContentsContents List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction  Stéphane Martin Part 1: Evaluating the Storage Capacities  1 A Model for Calculating the Capacities of horrea and Agricultural Areas of Gallo-Roman villae in the Province of Germania superior  Lars Blöck  2 Is It Possible to Quantify the Roman Agrarian Economy? In Favour of Quantitative Scepticism  Javier Salido Domínguez  3 Calculating the Storage Capacities of Granaries: A Tentative Model  Stéphane Martin Part 2: Storage through Time and Space  4 Évolution du stockage agricole dans la moitié septentrionale de la France à l’âge du Fer (VIe–Ier s. av. n. è.)  Stanislas Bossard  5 De nouvelles formes de stockage de céréales à l’époque romaine en Gaule : quels changements, avec quel(s) moteur(s) ?  Alain Ferdière, avec la collaboration de Véronique Zech-Matterne et Pierre Ouzoulias  6 Storage in a Non-Villa Landscape: The Batavian Countryside  Stéphane Martin Conclusion: Des greniers ruraux aux greniers militaires et urbains. Les enjeux historiques d’une enquête archéologique  Michel Reddé Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources and Inscriptions Index of Place Names

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Book SynopsisThe Phoebe A. Hearst Expedition to Naga ed-Deir, Cemeteries N 2000 and N 2500 presents the results of excavations directed by George A. Reisner and led by Arthur C. Mace. The site of Naga ed-Deir, Egypt, is unusual for its continued use over a long period of time (c. 3500 BCE–650 CE). Burials in N 2000 and N 2500 date to the First Intermediate Period/Middle Kingdom and the Coptic era. In keeping with Reisner’s earlier publications of Naga ed-Deir, this volume presents artifacts in chapter-length studies devoted to a particular object type and includes a burial-by-burial description. The excavators’ original drawings, notes, and photographs are complemented by a contemporary analysis of the objects by experts in their subfields.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction  Vanessa Davies 2 Catalogue of Tombs  Transcribed by Vanessa Davies 3 Ceramics  Gabriella diBattista and Brooke Norton 4 Four Unique Pottery Vessels from N 2000 and N 2500  Natasha D. Ayers 5 Scarabs, Scaraboids, Seals, Seal Impressions, and Knotted Cords  Emily Teeter 6 Small Stone Vessels  Virginia Emery 7 Flint Objects and Bone Object  Lisa Maher 8 Beads, Pendants, and the Like  Jocelyn Simlick, Andrea Miloslavic, and Vanessa Davies 9 Analysis of Beads and Pendants  Jolanda Bos and Vanessa Davies 10 Miscellaneous Objects  Elizabeth Minor 11 Late Antique Textiles  Amandine Mérat 12 Coptic Burial Wrapping  Jonathan P. Elias 13 Conclusions  Vanessa Davies Appendix 1: Arthur Mace’s Draft Manuscript Appendix 2: Coptic Inscriptions Index

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Book SynopsisConcepts in Middle Kingdom Funerary Culture presents a collection of archaeological and philological papers discussing how ancient Egyptians thought, and modern scholars may think, about Egyptian funerary practices of the early 2nd millennium BCE. Targeting the concepts used by modern scholars, the papers address both general methodological questions of how concepts should be developed and used and more specific ones about the history and presuppositions behind particular Egyptological concepts. In so doing, the volume brings to the fore occasionally problematic intellectual baggage that have hindered understanding, as well highlighting new promising avenues of research in ancient Egyptian funerary culture in the Middle Kingdom and more broadly. "New and insightful suggestions are made, many of which challenge the basic frames of reference of Western Egyptological study, from funerary practice to issues of identity. The methodological models should be of considerable interest to those studying aspects of the HB and ancient Levant related to funerary culture, where studies have often tended towards the etic." -David Beadle, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 44.5 (2020)Trade Review“The volume’s contributors take a range of broadly emic approaches to challenging and reformulating etic concepts in studies of Middle Kingdom funerary culture. The seven essays do not disappoint in their variety and rigorous engagement with the archaeological record, after Nyord’s exploratory introduction which recognises both the difficulties and possibilities provided by applying emic models to an ancient culture (…) New and insightful suggestions are made, many of which challenge the basic frames of reference of Western Egyptological study, from funerary practice to issues of identity. The methodological models should be of considerable interest to those studying aspects of the HB and ancient Levant related to funerary culture, where studies have often tended towards the etic.” - David Beadle, in Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2020Table of ContentsPreface List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction: Egyptian and Egyptological Concepts  Rune Nyord 2 Projection of Self in Middle Kingdom Tombs and Coffins  Susanne Bickel 3 The Concept of ‘Letters to the Dead’ and Egyptian Funerary Culture  Sylvie Donnat 4 How ‘Royal’ (and How ‘Mythical’) Are the Coffin Texts? Reflections on the Definition, Function, and Relativity of Some Etic Concepts in a Middle Kingdom Funerary Text Corpus  Katja Goebs 5 How ‘Funerary’ Are the Coffin Texts?  Alexandra von Lieven 6 Burial Demography in the Late Middle Kingdom: a Social Perspective  Gianluca Miniaci 7 The Concept of ka between Egyptian and Egyptological Frameworks  Rune Nyord 8 Who Am I? An Emic Approach to the So-Called ‘Personal Texts’ in Egyptian ‘Funerary Literature’  Harco Willems Index

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Book SynopsisThe aim of this monograph is to understand the extent to which the landscape of Roman Berytus and the Bekaa valley is a product of colonial transformation following the foundation of Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus in 15 BCE. The book explores the changes observed in the cities of Berytus and Heliopolis, as well as the sites at Deir el-Qalaa, Niha, and Hosn Niha. The work fundamentally challenges the traditional paradigm, where Baalbek-Heliopolis is seen as a religious site dating from as early as the Bronze Age and associated with the worship of a Semitic or Phoenician deity triad and replaces it with a new perspective where religious activity is largely a product of colonial change.Trade Review'To sum up, the book provides a very useful overview of the history of Roman Berytus including the Bekaa valley, which before could only be gained by extensive reading of the scattered literature. (...) Thus, the book is highly recommended for every scholar interested in the late Hellenistic and Roman Levant." - Winfried Held, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Archäologisches Seminar, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2020.11.35Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction  1.1 The Aims of This Monograph  1.2 Objectives  1.3 Chronological and Geographical Range  1.4 Topography and Geographical Setting  1.5 Structure of the Monograph 2 Sources, Historiography, Method & Theory  2.1 Introduction  2.2 Sources and Historiography  2.3 Method and Theory  2.4 Conclusion 3 From Hellenistic Kingdoms to Roman Authority in the Levant  3.1 Introduction  3.2 The Hellenistic Kingdoms in the Levant  3.3 The Ituraeans and the Ituraean Principality 4 Pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic Berytus  4.1 Introduction  4.2 Palaeolithic–Chalcolithic Activity (through 3000 BCE)  4.3 Bronze Age (3000 BCE–1200 BCE)  4.4 Iron Age (1200 BCE–323 BCE)  4.5 Hellenistic (323 BCE–15 BCE)  4.6 Conclusion: Pre-Roman Berytus 5 Pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic Baalbek and the Bekaa  5.1 Introduction  5.2 The Names Baalbek and Heliopolis  5.3 Prehistoric and Hellenistic Baalbek  5.4 The Prehistoric and Hellenistic Bekaa and Ituraean Territories  5.5 Conclusion and Interpretation 6 Roman Berytus  6.1 Introduction  6.2 The Cardo Maximus and Colonnaded Decumani  6.3 Public Buildings and Religious Architecture  6.4 Domestic Architecture  6.5 Commerce  6.6 Funerary Practice  6.7 Conclusions: The “Reconstruction” of Berytus 7 Deir el-Qalaa  7.1 Introduction  7.2 The Sacred Area at Deir el-Qalaa  7.3 The Settlement Area  7.4 The Deities and the Inscriptions  7.5 Conclusions 8 The Sanctuaries of Niha and Hosn Niha  8.1 Introduction  8.2 Niha  8.3 Hosn Niha  8.4 Conclusion: Ancient Nihata and Hosn Niha 9 The Religious Landscape of Baalbek in the Roman Period  9.1 Introduction  9.2 Early Roman Baalbek: 15 BCE–Mid-second Century  9.3 The Later Roman Empire: From the Mid-second Century to the Fourth Century  9.4 Funerary Practice in Baalbek and Douris  9.5 Conclusion: A Double Transformation 10 Life in the Colonia from Epigraphic, Numismatic, and Iconographic Evidence  10.1 Introduction  10.2 The Heliopolitan “Triad”  10.3 Baalbek-Heliopolis and Imperial Patronage  10.4 Euergetism by Private Citizens  10.5 Veterans and the Roman Army  10.6 Civilians, Public Officials, and Families  10.7 Voting Tribes  10.8 Conclusions: Life at Baalbek and in the Bekaa 11 Landscape and Religious Architecture in the Colonia  11.1 Introduction  11.2 The Temples of Baalbek in the Landscape  11.3 The Temples of Niha in the Landscape  11.4 Deir el-Qalaa  11.5 Conclusion 12 Conclusion  12.1 Conclusions on Berytus, Deir el-Qalaa, Niha, and Baalbek-Heliopolis  12.2 Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus: A Latin Intrusion in the Near East? Appendix A: Location Tables for Beirut Excavations Appendix B: Macrobius I.23.10–26 Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe book presents the results of a complete detailed survey of the eastern region of Samaria, mainly the Middle Jordan Valley, within the territory of Israel/Palestine. It is Volume 5 of the Manasseh Hill Country Survey publications. This project, in progress since 1978, and covering 2500 sq. km, is a thorough, metre-by-metre mapping of the archaeological-historical area between the River Jordan and the Sharon Plain, and between Nahal 'Iron and the north-eastern point of the Dead Sea. This territory is one of the most important in the country from the Biblical and archaeological view; and the survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, archaeology, Near Eastern history and other aspects of the Holy Land. This volume describes the area of the Jordan Valley between Wadi Fasael in the north and Wadi 'Aujah in the south. It is a fully revised and updated version of the Hebrew publication of 2012. "This rich volume makes an important contribution to the corpus of archaeological and historical knowledge about the land of Israel, and it will be a necessary acquisition for academic libraries. It will be of great interest to all those concerned with the study of the history and ar-chaeology of the land of Israel." - Ralph K. Hawkins, Averett University, Danville, VA, in: Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 64 (2019)

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Book SynopsisWith this analysis of Sol images, Steven E. Hijmans paints a new picture of the solar cult in ancient Rome. The paucity of literary evidence led Hijmans to prioritize visual sources, and he opens this study with a thorough discussion of the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasizing the danger of facile equivalencies between visual and verbal meanings, his primary focus is Roman praxis, manifest in, for instance, the strict patterning of Sol imagery. These patterns encode core concepts that Sol imagery evoked when deployed, and in those concepts we recognize the bedrock of Rome’s understandings of the sun and his cult. Case studies illustrate these concepts in action and the final chapter analyzes the historical context in which previous, now discredited views on Sol could arise. This is part I of a two-part set.

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Book SynopsisIn Three Hundred Years of Death: The Egyptian Funerary Industry in the Ptolemaic Period, Maria Cannata provides a detailed survey of the organisation of the necropolises and the funerary workers, as well as their role in the practical aspects of the mummification, funeral, burial, and mortuary cult of the deceased, in Ptolemaic Egypt (332-30 BC). The author gathers together and synthesises hundreds of the original textual sources, as well as the relevant archaeological sources, on the organisation of the funerary industry and its practitioners, revealing important regional and chronological variations overlooked in studies focusing on a limited geographical area, a shorter timeframe, or a smaller group of documents.Trade Review"The volume should be of considerable interest and utility to a wide range of Egyptologists and Demotic and Greek papyrologists, as well as historians, anthropologists and archaeologists interested in the social history of death. The author has made the material accessible to those who do not control any or all of the ancient languages used in Ptolemaic Egypt, by providing English translations of all of the ancient passages cited. Those who do know the languages and source materials, however, will appreciate the author’s detailed discussions and considerations of the readings and meanings of individual words, phrases and passages with reference to transliterations, transcriptions and even hand copies of Demotic. There is also an extensive index of sources cited with bibliographic references, for those who wish to consult editions of the primary sources for themselves. The volume can thus be profitably consulted and used both as an overview of Egyptian funerary priests and their practices in Ptolemaic Egypt, and as a comprehensive reference work for many of their activities.” - Brian Muhs in Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 116-6 (2021) “Das Buch hat einen überraschend positiven Eindruck ergeben. (…) Die Lektüre ist auch so sehr zu empfehlen.” - Stefan Bojowald, in SZRKG/RSHRC/RSSRC, 115 (2021)Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments List of Tables, Figures and Plates Illustration Credits Abbreviations Outline of Egyptian Chronology Introduction  1 Setting the Scene  2 Previous Scholarship on the Subject  3 Scope and Organisation of the Book  4 Notes on the Conventions and Abbreviations Used Part 1 The Organisation of the Necropolis and its Funerary Priests 1 The Theban Necropolis  1 The Overseer of the Necropolis  2 The Lesonis  3 The Steward  4 Choachytes  5 Territorial Jurisdiction of the Choachytes  6 Embalmers  7 Territorial Jurisdiction of the Embalmers  8 Other Funerary Priests 2 The Edfu Necropolis  1 The Overseer of the Necropolis and the Lesonis  2 Choachytes and Lector-Priests  3 Territorial Jurisdiction of Edfu Necropolis Workers 3 The Memphite Necropolis  1 The Overseer of the Necropolis  2 God’s Seal-Bearers as Lector-Priests and Choachytes  3 Territorial Jurisdiction of the Memphite Funerary Priests 4 The Hawara Necropolis  1 The Overseer of the God’s Seal-Bearers and Embalmers  2 God’s Seal-Bearers (and) Embalmers as Lector-Priests and Choachytes  3 Other Funerary Priests  4 Territorial Jurisdiction of the Hawara Funerary Priests  5 The Organisation of the Hawara Necropolis 5 The Necropolises in Middle Egypt  1 The Head of the Necropolis  2 Lector-Priests and Embalmers  3 Man of the Necropolis  4 Seal-Bearer Who Attends the God  5 God’s Seal-Bearers  6 Necrotaphoi  7 Territorial Jurisdiction of the Funerary Priests in Middle Egypt 6 Female Funerary Priests  1 Choachytes  2 Embalmers 7 Services, Income and Taxation of Funerary Priests  1 Definition of the Services Performed by Funerary Priests  2 Different Types of Revenues  3 Income of Lector-Priests and Embalmers  4 Personal and Professional Taxation, Contributions and Exemptions  5 Other Economic Activities of the Funerary Priests 8 Priestly Associations  1 Association of Theban Choachytes  2 Association of Theban Lector Priests  3 Association of Memphite Mortuary Priests  4 Associations of Mortuary Priests in the Fayum  5 Associations of Mortuary Priests in Middle Egypt 9 The Funerary Priests and Their Social Context  1 Place of Residence of the Funerary Priests  2 The Funerary Priests and Their Families Part 2 Death, Mummification and Burial 10 Death  1 The Mourning Period  2 Arranging for the Services of Funerary Priests  3 Transport of the Deceased to the Necropolis 11 Mummification  1 The Embalming Place: the pr-nfr and the wꜥb.t  2 Arranging for the Mummification of the Deceased  3 The Mummification Process: Stages, Rituals and Materials  4 Funerary Priests Involved in the Mummification Process 12 Burial  1 Role of the Funerary Priests Following the Mummification Process  2 Funeral and Burial  3 The Lexicology of the Entombment  4 Delayed Burial  5 Mortuary Cult 13 Funerary Expenses  1 Mummification Materials and Burial Equipment: Production, Acquisition and Provision  2 Provision of Mummification Materials and Burial Equipment  3 Burial Taxes  4 Cost and Payment of the ‘Mummification and Burial’ 14 The Deceased  1 The Living and the Dead  2 Epithets of the Dead  3 Social Status and Ethnic Background of the Deceased Part 3 Necropolises, Tombs and Burials 15 Necropolises  1 Location of Burial Grounds  2 Funerary Landscape: Topographical Textual Notes  3 God’s Acre: Possession, Taxation and Acquisition of Plots and Tombs 16 Tombs  1 The Lexicography of Tombs’ Typology  2 Tombs’ Typology: Textual and Archaeological Evidence  3 Building a New Tomb  4 Using an Existing Tomb  5 Collective Tombs 17 Burials  1 Select Survey of Inhumations’ Typology Part 4 Discussion and Conclusion 18 Discussion and Conclusion  1 The Organisation of the Necropolis and its Funerary Priests  2 Death, Mummification and Burial  3 Necropolises, Tombs and Burials Appendix 1: Palaeographical and Orthographical Analysis of the Root ḳs Appendix 2: P. Florence 3667 (111 BC) Appendix 3: Tables Bibliography List of the Main Primary Sources Analysed (arranged by necropolis and category) Bibliographical Details of the Primary Sources Cited (Arranged Alphabetically and by Museums’ Inventory Number) List of Personal Names List of Toponyms Mentioned Select Index of Words Plates

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