Cybele, Attis, and related cults : essays in memory of M.J. Vermaseren /
:
This volume brings together articles on the cult of the mother-goddess Cybele and her consort Attis, from the emergence of the religion in Anatolia through its expansion into Greece and Italy to the latest times of the Roman Empire and its farthest extent west, the Iberian Peninsula. It combines the work of established scholars with that of young researchers in the field, and represents a truly international perspective. The reader will find treatment inter alia of Cybele's emasculated priests, the Galli; the dissemination of Cybele-cult through the harbour city, Miletus; the cult of Cybele in Ephesus; the rock-cut sanctuary of Cybele at Akrai in Sicily; the competition between the Cybele-cult and Christianity; and the role of Attis in Neo-Platonic philosophy.
:
1 online resource (ix, 441 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004295889 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Paul and Scripture /
:
In Paul and Scripture , an international group of scholars discuss a range of topics related to the Apostle Paul and his relationship(s) with Jewish Scripture. The essays represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints, with some devoted to methodological issues, others to general patterns in Paul's uses of Scripture, and still others to specific letters or passages within the traditional Pauline canon (inclusive of the disputed letters). The end result is an overview of the various ways in which Paul the Apostle weaves into his writings the authority, content, and even wording of Jewish Scriptures.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004391512 :
1572-4913 ;
Leo the Great and the spiritual rebuilding of a universal Rome /
:
Leo the Great was a major figure of the late Roman world whose life and work were profoundly intertwined with the political crisis of his day. As the western empire gradually succumbed to the advancing barbarian kingdoms, Leo understood that the papacy needed to expand its authority in order for the church to survive the demise of the political system. This book argues that his achievement was to transform the church not only in the practical level of administrative organization, but in the more fluid realm of thought and idea. The secular Rome that was crumbling was replaced with a Christian, universal Rome that he fashioned by infusing his theology with humanitarian ideals.
:
1 online resource (xii, 422 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789047443100 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The religion of the Nabataeans : a conspectus /
:
The history of the Nabataean Kingdom of Hellenistic-Roman times, centred on Petra, is now well known, but until the publication of this book, no monograph has been devoted to Nabataean religion, known to us principally from inscriptions in Nabataean Aramaic, iconography, archaeology and Greek literary texts. After a critical survey of the sources, the author analyses systematically the information on the individual gods worshipped by the Nabataeans, including a detailed illustrated account of temples and iconography. A further major section discusses religious themes: aniconism, henotheism, death-cult and the divinisation of kings. In a final chapter, Nabataean religion is considered in relation to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The book will be of particular interest to historians of religion in the Graeco-Roman Near East and to Semitic epigraphists.
:
1 online resource (xvi, 242 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-234) and indexes. :
9789004301481 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
On the writing of New Testament commentaries : festschrift for Grant R. Osborne on the occasion of his 70th birthday /
:
The essays in On the Writing of New Testament Commentaries discuss historical, hermeneutical, methodological, literary, and theological questions that shape the writing of commentaries on the books of the New Testament. While these essays honor Grant R. Osborne, they also represent the first sustained effort to systematically address commentary writing in the field of New Testament studies.
:
Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 20, 2012).
Includes index. :
1 online resource (493 pages) :
9789004232921 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Brill's companion to Aphrodite /
:
Brill's Companion to Aphrodite brings together an international and multidisciplinary team of experts in the study of Aphrodite-one of the best known, yet ambiguous and complex Graeco-Roman deities. The contributions, which reevaluate conventional approaches to this remarkable goddess, are thematically grouped in four parts according to aspects of the goddess: 'Aphrodite's Identity'; 'Aphrodite's Companions and Relations'; 'The Spread of Aphrodite's Cults' and 'The Reception of the Goddess.' Each part draws on literary and visual sources, incorporates Greek, Roman, and later material, and ranges across places and periods-from prehistoric Cyprus and the Near East to the antiquities market in 19th century France. This book therefore crosses interdisciplinary boundaries, as well as the multiple aspects and characteristics of the goddess
:
Emerged from a conference at the University of Reading, May 8-10, 2008. :
1 online resource (xvii, 452 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047444503 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian origins and Hellenistic Judaism : social and literary contexts for the New Testament /
:
In Christian Origins and Hellenistic Judaism , Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts assemble an international team of scholars whose work has focused on reconstructing the social matrix for earliest Christianity through reference to Hellenistic Judaism and its literary forms. Each essay moves forward the current understanding of how primitive Christianity situated itself in relation to evolving Greco-Roman Jewish culture. Some essays focus on configuring the social context for the origins of the Jesus movement and beyond, while others assess the literary relation between early Christian and Hellenistic Jewish texts.
:
1 online resource ([xi], , 619 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004236394 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Traditions of the Magi : Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin literature /
:
This is the first full treatment of the Greek and Latin references to Zoroastrianism since the pioneering works of Benveniste, Bidez andamp; Cumont, and Clemen. It focuses on the possibilities offered by the classical reports on Zoroastrianism to reconstruct the history of that faith. The book is divided into three sections. The first section deals with introductory problems concerning ancient religious ethnography and current views of the history of Zoroastrianism. The second section consists of commentaries on five selected passages. The third section offers a thematical overview of the materials and their relevance for the history of Iranian religions. Apart from offering introductions to a wide range of debates and topics in Classics and Iranian studies, the book aims to illustrate the diversity of beliefs and practices in ancient Zoroastrianism.
:
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Utrecht). :
1 online resource (xii, 496 pages) :
Includes bibliographical reference₆ (p. 461-468) and indexes. :
9789004301467 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A history of Zoroastrianism /
:
This volume traces the history of Zoroastrianism at times and places where its existence has previously been largely ignored, or treated only episodically. Literary, archaeological and numismatic evidence has been drawn on (some of it only recently brought to light), and local developments are distinguished. In Iran itself some 200 years of Macedonian rule had little effect on the national religion. To the east, Zoroastrianism survived in the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms and under Mauryan suzereinty, where it came into contact with Buddhism. In Eastern Mediterranean lands it was maintained by Iranian expatriates well down into Roman imperial times. They adopted Greek for their written tongue, and Zoroastrian doctrines thus became known in the Greco-Roman world. Study is made accordingly of Zoroastrian contributions to Hellenistic thought, and to Judaism, Christianity and Mithraism; and an excursus provides a thorough reassessment of the Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha.
:
Vol. 3 written by Mary Boyce and Frantz Grenet, with a conritution by Roger Beck. :
1 online resource (xx, 596 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004293915 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Authority and identity in emerging Christianities in Asia Minor and Greece /
:
This book explores how early Christian communities constructed, developed, and asserted their identity and authority in various socio-cultural contexts in Asia Minor and Greece in the first five centuries CE. With the help of the database Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae ( ICG ), special attention is given to ancient inscriptions which represent a rich and valuable source of information on the early Christians' social and religious identity, family networks, authority structures, and place and function in society. This collection of essays by various specialists of Early Christianity, Epigraphy, and Late Antiquity, offers a broad geographical survey of the expansion and socio-cultural development of Christianity/ies in Asia Minor and Greece, and sheds new light on the religious transformation of the Later Roman Empire.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004367197 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Envisioning Magic, A Princeton Seminar and Symposium.
:
This collection of twelve articles presents a selection of papers delivered in the course of a seminar 1994-95 and its concluding international symposium at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. The common theme is the interrelation between magic and religion, focussing particularly on the Mediterranean world in Antiquity - Egyptian, Graeco-Roman and Jewish beliefs and customs - but also treating the early modern period in Northern Europe (the Netherlands and Germany) as well as offering more general reflections on elements of magic in language and Jewish mysticism. The volume is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and the use of varied methodologies, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the often contradictory forces shaping religious beliefs and practices, while dismissing the idea of a linear development from magic to religion or vice versa. The contributors are outstanding scholars in their fields: Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Classical Studies, Early Christianity, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Egyptology and Comparative Literature. Without a doubt this re-evaluation of a fascinating age-old subject will stimulate scholarly discussion and appeal to educated non-specialist readers as well.
:
1 online resource. :
9789004378971
Mapping gender in ancient religious discourses /
:
This collection of essays focuses on issues related to gender at the intersection of religious discourses in antiquity. To that end, an array of traditions is analyzed with the aim of more fully situating the construction and representation of gender in early Christian, Jewish and Greco-Roman argumentation. Taken as a whole, these essays contribute to the goal of displaying the wide range of options that are available for examining the interconnection of gender, rhetoric, power, and ideology, especially as they relate to identity formation in the ancient world during the early centuries of the common era. The focus on ancient conceptions of gender makes this collection particularly useful not only for biblical scholars, but also for classicists and researchers working in the field of gender studies, as well as for those interested in exploring similar issues in other religious traditions or in Western religious traditions of different time periods.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [511]-545) and indexes. :
9789047411260 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Scriptural interpretation and community self-definition in Luke-Acts and the writings of Justin Marty r
:
Scholars of Christian origins often regard Luke-Acts and the writings of Justin Martyr as similar accounts of the replacement of Israel by the non-Jewish church. According to this view, both authors commandeer the Jewish scriptures as the sole possession of non-Jewish Christ-believers, rather than of Jews. Offering a fresh analysis of the exegesis of Luke and Justin, this book uncovers significant differences between their respective depictions of the privileged status that Christ-believers hold in relation to the Jewish scriptures. Although both authors argue that Christ-believers alone possess an inspired capacity to interpret the Jewish scriptures, unlike Justin, Luke envisages an ongoing role for the Jewish people as recipients of the promises that God pledged to Israel.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-310) and index. :
9789004201590 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tertullian, on idolatry and Mishnah ʹAvodah zarah : questioning the parting of the ways between Christians and Jews in late antiquity /
:
This work studies and compares systematically the text of Tertullian, an African Church Father of the third century CE, on idolatry with the rabbinic Mishnah Avodah Zarah , on the same subject, dating roughly from the same period. Similarities and differences between the Jewish and Christian approaches to idolatry are examined and accounted for. The research is inscribed in the wider framework of discussions on the "parting of the ways" between Jews and Christians. It also addresses related questions such as the role of the rabbis in second and third century Judaism in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora; relations between Jews living in those places; interactions between Jews and pagans, Christians and pagans, Jews and Christians...
:
1 online resource (ix, 258 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004235489 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity: My Lots are in Thy Hands.
:
Sortilege-the making of decisions by casting lots-was widely practiced in the Mediterranean world during the period known as late antiquity, between the third and eighth centuries CE. In My Lots are in Thy Hands: Sortilege and its Practitioners in Late Antiquity , AnneMarie Luijendijk and William Klingshirn have collected fourteen essays that examine late antique lot divination, especially but not exclusively through texts preserved in Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac. Employing the overlapping perspectives of religious studies, classics, anthropology, economics, and history, contributors study a variety of topics, including the hermeneutics and operations of divinatory texts, the importance of diviners and their instruments, and the place of faith and doubt in the search for hidden order in a seemingly random world.
:
1 online resource. :
9789004385030
Magic and ritual in the ancient world /
:
This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptic and Islamic Egypt. The strength of the present volume lies in the breadth of scholarly approaches represented. The book begins with several papyrological studies presenting important new texts in Greek and Coptic, continuing with essays focusing on taxonomy and definition. The concluding essays apply contemporary theories to analyses of specific test cases in a broad variety of ancient Mediterranean cultures.
:
1 online resource (xvii, 468 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047400400 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Attis, between myth and history : king, priest, and God /
:
This volume deals with the figure of Attis. The work aims to reconsider the mythical and cultic information about this character, trying to provide proof of the processes of \'construction\' and \'reconstruction\' that have contributed to the moulding of the different forms of Attis that developed as a result of various demands within different religious traditions. After an introduction about the history of the studies, the first part examines the oldest evidence on Attis, resorting to comparison with religious traditions earlier than or contemporary with Phrygian culture. The second part tackles the classical world and collects the elements of continuity and of innovation in respect of Asianic religious traditions. The third part analyses the problem of the processes of reinterpretation of the traditional cults that both the \'pagan\' philosophers and the fathers of the Church effected. The link between Attis and Death is discussed in the fourth part.
:
1 online resource (xii, 207 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-198) and indexes. :
9789004295971 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
De Memphis à Rome : actes du Ier Colloque international sur les études isiaques, Poitiers-- Futuroscope, 8-10 avril 1999 /
:
The studies of the Isiac Cults are forty years old. Many of the scholars who have contributed to the development of this particular field of research, - the diffusion of the Egyptian cults in the Graeco-Roman world -, met in the Futuroscope of Poitiers for a three-day colloquium, to establish the progress of research, and the subjects which need more discussion. The synthesis of this colloquium is presented in this volume. The best specialists in the world give their assessment of the past forty years of research: which tools do students and scholars have? Which -provisional- conclusions can be drawn about, for example, the hellenization of Isis, the reality of the Roman soldier's devotion to Isis or Sarapis, the celebration of the Isiaca in Rome from Republican days well into the Empire? This volume is a very useful update on what we do and do not know in the study of the Isiac cults in the Graeco-Roman world.
:
1 online resource (xxv, 216 pages) : illustrations, map. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004295933 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
From Easter to Holy Week : the paschal mystery and liturgical renewal in the twentieth century /
:
The story of the twentieth-century Liturgical Movement is, more than anything else, about the rediscovery and renewed understanding of the fundamental reality of the Paschal Mystery and of the Paschal identity of the Church. This identity is expressed and celebrated whenever the Body of Christ - every member - welcomes new members in the waters of baptism and feasts with them in the Eucharist, especially as these are celebrated during Holy Week. This book explores this rediscovery, first in the Roman Catholic Church and then in the Episcopal Church and other Churches of the Anglican Communion, and looks in particular at how both grassroots and official work played a role in renewing and restoring the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004413917
Paul and Pseudepigraphy.
:
In Paul and Pseudepigraphy , an international group of scholars engage open questions in the study of the Apostle Paul and those documents often deemed pseudepigraphal. This volume addresses many traditional questions, including those of method and the authenticity of several canonical Pauline letters, but they also reflect a desire to think in new ways about persistent questions surrounding pseudepigraphy. The focus on pseudepigraphy in relationship to Paul affords a unique opportunity to address this innovative inclination, not readily available in studies of New Testament pseudepigraphy in general. Regarding these concerns, new approaches are introduced, traditional evidence is reassessed, and some new suggestions are offered. In addition to Pauline letters, treatments of related non-canonical Pauline pseudepigraphs are included in discussion.
:
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes index. :
1 online resource (390 pages) :
9789004258471 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.