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Written by an international team of acknowledged experts, this excellent book studies a wide range of contributions and showcases new research on the archaeology, ritual and history of Greek mystery cults. With a lack of written evidence that exists for the mysteries, archaeology has proved central to explaining their significance and this volume is key to understanding a phenomenon central to Greek religion and society.
This book provides a synthesis of the archaeology of Eleusis during the Bronze Age, reconstructing the origins and early development of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
For more than one thousand years, people from every corner of the Greco-Roman world sought the hope for a blessed afterlife through initiation into the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis. In antiquity itself and in our memory of antiquity, the Eleusinian Mysteries stand out as the oldest and most venerable mystery cult. Despite the tremendous popularity of the Eleusinian Mysteries, their origins are unknown. Because they are lost in an era without written records, they can only be reconstructed with the help of archaeology. This book provides a much-needed synthesis of the archaeology of Eleusis during the Bronze Age and reconstructs the formation and early development of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The discussion of the origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries is complemented with discussions of the theology of Demeter and an update on the state of research in the archaeology of Eleusis from the Bronze Age to the end of antiquity.
Presenting the latest developments in research from an international group of scholars and scientists, this volume offers new interpretations of some of the most crucial aspects of the Parthenon. It considers such topics as the authorship of the frieze and the reconstruction of its missing sculpture, as well as the sociopolitical context in which the monument was created and the application of new technologies in Parthenon studies.
Photographs of the sculptures which decorate the Parthenon in Athens are accompanied by a discussion of the historical, social, and religious significance of the temple.
The inscribed text referred to as the sacred law of Andania contains almost 200 lines of regulations about a mystery festival and the sanctuary in which it took place. Although it concerns one annual festival in Messenia, it imparts information relevant to the general nature of sanctuary activity and the issues that were important in the routine management of cult. This book contributes to the recent shift in scholarship that has sought to view sanctuaries as more than simply settings for temples, but as locations created and affected by people's various needs, activities, and agendas. This examination of the inscription includes a new and accurate edition of its text with full critical apparatus, an English translation, and copious images of the stone. The accompanying introduction and commentary incorporate literary and epigraphical comparanda and on-site topographical research to present a holistic view of the cultic regulations in their historical and geographical context.
The Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis: The Bronze Age00Vol. I: 978-618-5047-16-00Vol. II: 978-618-5047-17-7.
Drawing on textual, iconographic and archaeological evidence, this book highlights a historically documented (but often ignored) instance, where five single women were elevated to a position of supreme religious authority. The women were Libyan and Nubian royal princesses who, consecutively, held the title of God's Wife of Amun during the Egyptian Twenty-third to Twenty-sixth dynasties (c.754-525 BCE). At a time of weakened royal authority, rulers turned to their daughters to establish and further their authority. Unmarried, the princess would be dispatched from her father's distant political.
A report on six seasons of fieldwalking in northeast Attica by the Oropos Survey Project. The project sought to investigate the effects of political history in Oropos on the rural community, their economy, society, organisation, religion and ideology.