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Religions of the ancient world: a guide

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Harvard University Press reference libraryPublication details: The Belknap Press 2004 CambridgeDescription: xiv, 697 p.: col. ill. Includes bibliographical references and indexISBN:
  • 9780674015173
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 200.93 R3
Summary: Religious beliefs and practices, which permeated all aspects of life in antiquity, traveled well-worn routes throughout the Mediterranean: itinerant charismatic practitioners journeying from place to place peddled their skills as healers, purifiers, cursers, and initiators; and vessels decorated with illustrations of myths traveled with them. New gods encountered in foreign lands by merchants and conquerors were sometimes taken home to be adapted and adopted. A full understanding of this complex spiritual world unfolds in Religions of the Ancient World, the first basic reference work that collects and organizes available information to offer an expansive, comparative perspective. At once sweeping in scope and groundbreaking in format, the Guide eschews the usual encyclopedic approach, instead presenting, side by side, materials from ten cultures and traditions. Thus specific beliefs, cults, gods, and ritual practices that arose and developed in Mediterranean religions—of Egypt, Anatolia and the Near East, Mesopotamia, Iran, Greece, and the Roman world, from the third millennium to the fourth century C.E.—are interpreted in comparison with one another, and with reference to aspects that crisscross cultural boundaries, such as Cosmology, Myth, Law and Ethics, and Magic. Written by leading scholars of ancient religion, the essays in this guide sketch the various religious histories, raise central theoretical issues, and examine individual topics such as Sacred Times and Spaces; Prayers, Hymns, Incantations, and Curses; Sin, Pollution, and Purity; Death, the Afterlife, and Other Last Things; Divination and Prophecy; Deities and Demons; and Sacred Texts and Canonicity. Clearly and stylishly written, grandly illustrated, this comprehensive work welcomes readers as never before into the diversity and interconnections of religion in the ancient world. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674015173
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Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 7-A / Slot 196 (0 Floor, West Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 200.93 R3 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 203561

Table of contents

I. Encountering Ancient Religions
What Is Ancient Mediterranean Religion? [Fritz Graf]
Monotheism and Polytheism [Jan Assmann]
Ritual [Jan Bremmer]
Myth [Fritz Graf]
Cosmology: Time and History [John J. Collins]
Pollution, Sin, Atonement, Salvation [Harold W. Attridge]
Law and Ethics [Eckart Otto]
Mysteries [Sarah Iles Johnston]
Religions in Contact [John Scheid]
Writing and Religion [Mary Beard]
Magic [Sarah Iles Johnston]

II. Histories
Egypt [Jan Assmann and David Frankfurter]
Mesopotamia [Paul-Alain Beaulieu]
Syria and Canaan [David P. Wright]
Israel [John J. Collins]
Anatolia: Hittites [David P. Wright]
Iran [William Malandra and Michael Stausberg]
Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations [Nanno Marinatos]
Greece [Jon Mikalson]
Etruria [Olivier de Cazanove]
Rome [John North]
Early Christianity [Harold Attridge]

III. Key Topics
Sacred Times and Spaces
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity
Dictionary of Religious Festivals

Religious Personnel
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Religious Organizations and Bodies
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Sacrifice, Offerings, and Votives
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Prayers, Hymns, Incantations, and Curses
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Divination and Prophecy
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Deities and Demons
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece and Rome
Etruria
Christianity
Dictionary of Deities and Demons

Religious Practices of the Individual and Family
Introduction
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Rites of Passage
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Illnesses and Other Crises
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece and Rome
Etruria
Christianity

Death, the Afterlife, and Other Last Things
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Sin, Pollution, and Purity
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Ethics and Law Codes
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Theology, Theodicy, Philosophy
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece and Rome
Christianity

Religion and Politics
Introduction
Egypt
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Controlling Religion
Introduction
Egypt
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Rome
Christianity

Myth and Sacred Narratives
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece and Rome
Etruria
Christianity

Visual Representations
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Syria-Canaan
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece, Rome, and Etruria
Christianity

Sacred Texts and Canonicity
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Israel
Anatolia
Iran
Greece
Etruria
Rome
Christianity

Esotericism and Mysticism
Introduction
Egypt
Mesopotamia
Israel
Manicheism
Theurgy
Hermeticism
Gnosticism
Epilogue [Bruce Lincoln]

Religious beliefs and practices, which permeated all aspects of life in antiquity, traveled well-worn routes throughout the Mediterranean: itinerant charismatic practitioners journeying from place to place peddled their skills as healers, purifiers, cursers, and initiators; and vessels decorated with illustrations of myths traveled with them. New gods encountered in foreign lands by merchants and conquerors were sometimes taken home to be adapted and adopted. A full understanding of this complex spiritual world unfolds in Religions of the Ancient World, the first basic reference work that collects and organizes available information to offer an expansive, comparative perspective.
At once sweeping in scope and groundbreaking in format, the Guide eschews the usual encyclopedic approach, instead presenting, side by side, materials from ten cultures and traditions. Thus specific beliefs, cults, gods, and ritual practices that arose and developed in Mediterranean religions—of Egypt, Anatolia and the Near East, Mesopotamia, Iran, Greece, and the Roman world, from the third millennium to the fourth century C.E.—are interpreted in comparison with one another, and with reference to aspects that crisscross cultural boundaries, such as Cosmology, Myth, Law and Ethics, and Magic. Written by leading scholars of ancient religion, the essays in this guide sketch the various religious histories, raise central theoretical issues, and examine individual topics such as Sacred Times and Spaces; Prayers, Hymns, Incantations, and Curses; Sin, Pollution, and Purity; Death, the Afterlife, and Other Last Things; Divination and Prophecy; Deities and Demons; and Sacred Texts and Canonicity.
Clearly and stylishly written, grandly illustrated, this comprehensive work welcomes readers as never before into the diversity and interconnections of religion in the ancient world.

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674015173

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