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Drawing upon scholarship of cultural identity, anthropology and historical linguistics, this book offers a novel and contextual approach to the interpretation of archaeological evidence for Jewish populations in North Africa and elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean.
This volume brings together a series of innovative studies on Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic Palestine, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient synagogues in honor of renowned archaeologist Jodi Magness.
The fourth catalogue in a series that documents the renowned Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art, this book focuses on the collection’s 453 terracotta oil lamps dating from the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Byzantine periods. The rich iconography on many of these common, everyday objects provides a rare look into daily life on Cyprus in antiquity and highlights the island’s participation in Roman artistic and cultural production. Each lamp is illustrated, and the accompanying text addresses typology, decoration, and makers’ marks on each of these objects that provide new insights into art, craft, and trade in the ancient Mediterranean.
Following the failure of the Bar-Kokhba revolt in the second century, the majority of the Jewish population of Palestine migrated northward away from Jerusalem to join the communities of Jews in Galilee and the Golan Heights. Although rabbinic sources indicate that from the second century onward the demographic center of Jewish Palestine was in Galilee, archaeological evidence of Jewish communities is found in the southern part of the country as well. In The Ancient Synagogues of Southern Palestine, 300-800 C.E., Steve Werlin considers ten synagogues uncovered in southern Palestine. Through an in-depth analysis of the art, architecture, epigraphy, and stratigraphy, the author demonstrates how monumental, religious structures provide critical insight into the lives of those who were strangers among Christians and Muslims in their ancestral homeland.
Muthanna, also known as mirror writing, is a compelling style of Islamic calligraphy composed of a source text and its mirror image placed symmetrically on a horizontal or vertical axis. This style elaborates on various scripts such as Kufic, naskh, and muhaqqaq through compositional arrangements, including doubling, superimposing, and stacking. Muthanna is found in diverse media, ranging from architecture, textiles, and tiles to paper, metalwork, and woodwork. Yet despite its centuries-old history and popularity in countries from Iran to Spain, scholarship on the form has remained limited and flawed. Muthanna / Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy provides a comprehensive study of the text...
The present volume presents a selection of studies by Ranon Katzoff on Jews in the ancient Roman world. Common to them is that they deal with Jews in liminal situations - confronted with non-Jewish, mainly Roman, laws, places, government, and modes of thought. In these studies - in which texts in Greek and Latin and rabbinic texts (all in translation) elucidate each other - Jews are shown to be rather loyal to their Jewish traditions, a controversial conclusion. The first two sections concern law. Section one searches the remains of popular Jewish culture for evidence on the degree to which rabbinic law really prevailed, through the study of Judaean Desert documents, mainly those of Babatha. Section two sifts through rabbinic law for traces of Roman law. Section three comprises studies of Jews in, to, and from the city of Rome, and section four a miscellany of studies on Jews confronted with non-Jewish life.
The four-volume Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World provides readers with comprehensive coverage of the medieval world, from the fall of Rome to the European Renaissance, including Western and non-Western cultures and civilizations. Following an introduction that outlines the history of the major centers of civilization, this authoritative set features 71 alphabetical entries that explore specific topics such as architecture, economy, art, and the military, followed by subsections on Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Islamic World. These insightful entries, including 12 on "major" topics with more in-depth coverage, allow readers to compare and contrast events in different areas of the world with ease. Key articles are supported by primary source documents, and a list of further reading complements each entry. More than 200 black-and-white photographs, maps, and sidebars accompany the text, and a glossary, chronology, general bibliography, and comprehensive index round out this accessible set.--Publisher information.
In honor of eminent archaeologist and historian of ancient Jewish art, Rachel Hachlili, friends and colleagues offer contributions in this festschrift which span the world of ancient Judaism both in Palestine and the Diaspora. Hachlili's distinctive research interests: synagogues, burial sites, and Jewish iconography receive particular attention in the volume. Archaeologists and historians present new material evidence from Galilee, Jerusalem, and Transjordan, contributing to the honoree’s fields of scholarly study. Fresh analyses of ancient Jewish art, essays on architecture, historical geography, and research history complete the volume and make it an enticing kaleidoscope of the vibrant field of scholarship that owes so much to Rachel.
While Jesus and Purity (2002, corrected reprint 2010, 2021) aimed to present an unfolding argument, this volume does not aspire at such coherence. It consists of articles and papers on various issues of impurity in early Judaism. A few of these have been previously published, the rest not. Some chapters develop and further expand on topics discussed in Jesus and Purity and much focus lies on questions of the impurity of discharges and the practice of hand-washing before meals. Both literary and historical methods are used, as well as approaches based on cognitive science. The analysis covers texts from the Pentateuch, Qumran, the New Testament, and some Jewish Hellenistic authors. By bringing these articles together, they are made available and can be easily found by potential readers. Together with the recently published collection Impurity and Purification in Early Judaism and the Jesus Tradition (SBL Press, 2021), Issues of Impurity represents Kazen's continuous work on purity issues through two decades. The reader of both volumes will see how the author's views have gradually evolved through the years.
Professor Mazar viewed the excavations at the Temple Mount as the apex of his scientific contribution. Now his granddaughter, Dr. Eilat Mazar, continues his work and is heading the extensive project of publishing the findings from the sites. Dr. Eilat Mazar was part of the excavation team in the City of David from 1981-1985 that was headed by Professor Yigal Shiloh and from 1986-87 she lead the excavations at the Ophel on behalf of the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University. Dr. Mazar has been involved in archaeological research in Jerusalem for many years and has publishd numerous articles. She has written this guide in a language that everyone can understand without comprising scientific accuracy or the high level of research. This guide encompasses 3000 years of Jerusalem history and explores every period including descriptions of meaningful pieces from each era, accompanied by detailed explanations and attractive photographs and drawings. This guide is a masterful piece of work that allows the general audience a closer look at the past -- the Temple Mount in all of its original glory as it is now again revealed to our eyes. — Publisher description.