Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317577426
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

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Book Synopsis Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z by : Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr.

Download or read book Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z written by Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr. and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Greeks and Romans lived in a world teeming with animals. Animals were integral to ancient commerce, war, love, literature and art. Inside the city they were found as pets, pests, and parasites. They could be sacred, sacrificed, liminal, workers, or intruders from the wild. Beyond the city domesticated animals were herded and bred for profit and wild animals were hunted for pleasure and gain alike. Specialists like Aristotle, Aelian, Pliny and Seneca studied their anatomy and behavior. Geographers and travelers described new lands in terms of their animals. Animals are to be seen on every possible artistic medium, woven into cloth and inlaid into furniture. They are the subject of proverbs, oaths and dreams. Magicians, physicians and lovers turned to animals and their parts for their crafts. They paraded before kings, inhabited palaces, and entertained the poor in the arena. Quite literally, animals pervaded the ancient world from A-Z. In entries ranging from short to long, Kenneth Kitchell offers insight into this commonly overlooked world, covering representative and intriguing examples of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Familiar animals such as the cow, dog, fox and donkey are treated along with more exotic animals such as the babirussa, pangolin, and dugong. The evidence adduced ranges from Minoan times to the Late Roman Empire and is taken from archaeology, ancient authors, inscriptions, papyri, coins, mosaics and all other artistic media. Whenever possible reasoned identifications are given for ancient animal names and the realities behind animal lore are brought forth. Why did the ancients think hippopotamuses practiced blood letting on themselves? How do you catch a monkey? Why were hyenas thought to be hermaphroditic? Was there really a vampire moth? Entries are accompanied by full citations to ancient authors and an extensive bibliography. Of use to Classics students and scholars, but written in a style designed to engage anyone interested in Greco-Roman antiquity, Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z reveals the extent and importance of the animal world to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It answers many questions, asks several more, and seeks to stimulate further research in this important field.

Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317577434
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (175 download)

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Book Synopsis Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z by : Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr.

Download or read book Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z written by Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr. and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Greeks and Romans lived in a world teeming with animals. Animals were integral to ancient commerce, war, love, literature and art. Inside the city they were found as pets, pests, and parasites. They could be sacred, sacrificed, liminal, workers, or intruders from the wild. Beyond the city domesticated animals were herded and bred for profit and wild animals were hunted for pleasure and gain alike. Specialists like Aristotle, Aelian, Pliny and Seneca studied their anatomy and behavior. Geographers and travelers described new lands in terms of their animals. Animals are to be seen on every possible artistic medium, woven into cloth and inlaid into furniture. They are the subject of proverbs, oaths and dreams. Magicians, physicians and lovers turned to animals and their parts for their crafts. They paraded before kings, inhabited palaces, and entertained the poor in the arena. Quite literally, animals pervaded the ancient world from A-Z. In entries ranging from short to long, Kenneth Kitchell offers insight into this commonly overlooked world, covering representative and intriguing examples of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Familiar animals such as the cow, dog, fox and donkey are treated along with more exotic animals such as the babirussa, pangolin, and dugong. The evidence adduced ranges from Minoan times to the Late Roman Empire and is taken from archaeology, ancient authors, inscriptions, papyri, coins, mosaics and all other artistic media. Whenever possible reasoned identifications are given for ancient animal names and the realities behind animal lore are brought forth. Why did the ancients think hippopotamuses practiced blood letting on themselves? How do you catch a monkey? Why were hyenas thought to be hermaphroditic? Was there really a vampire moth? Entries are accompanied by full citations to ancient authors and an extensive bibliography. Of use to Classics students and scholars, but written in a style designed to engage anyone interested in Greco-Roman antiquity, Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z reveals the extent and importance of the animal world to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It answers many questions, asks several more, and seeks to stimulate further research in this important field.

Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud

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Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108540031
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud by : Beth A. Berkowitz

Download or read book Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud written by Beth A. Berkowitz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animals and Animality in the Babylonian Talmud selects key themes in animal studies - animal intelligence, morality, sexuality, suffering, danger, personhood - and explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud. Beth A. Berkowitz demonstrates that distinctive features of the Talmud - the new literary genre, the convergence of Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian cultures, the Talmud's remove from Temple-centered biblical Israel - led to unprecedented possibilities within Jewish culture for conceptualizing animals and animality. She explores their development in the Babylonian Talmud, showing how it is ripe for reading with a critical animal studies perspective. When we do, we find waiting for us a multi-layered, surprisingly self-aware discourse about animals as well as about the anthropocentrism that infuses human relationships with them. For readers of religion, Judaism, and animal studies, her book offers new perspectives on animals from the vantage point of the ancient rabbis.

Handbook of Historical Animal Studies

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110536552
Total Pages : 647 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Handbook of Historical Animal Studies by : Mieke Roscher

Download or read book Handbook of Historical Animal Studies written by Mieke Roscher and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 647 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Animals in Ancient Greek Religion

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429754590
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (297 download)

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Book Synopsis Animals in Ancient Greek Religion by : Julia Kindt

Download or read book Animals in Ancient Greek Religion written by Julia Kindt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-29 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first systematic study of the role of animals in different areas of the ancient Greek religious experience, including in myth and ritual, the literary and the material evidence, the real and the imaginary. An international team of renowned contributors shows that animals had a sustained presence not only in the traditionally well-researched cultural practice of blood sacrifice but across the full spectrum of ancient Greek religious beliefs and practices. Animals played a role in divination, epiphany, ritual healing, the setting up of dedications, the writing of binding spells, and the instigation of other ‘magical’ means. Taken together, the individual contributions to this book illustrate that ancient Greek religion constituted a triangular symbolic system encompassing not just gods and humans, but also animals as a third player and point of reference. Animals in Ancient Greek Religion will be of interest to students and scholars of Greek religion, Greek myth, and ancient religion more broadly, as well as for anyone interested in human/animal relations in the ancient world.

The Culture of Animals in Antiquity

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351782495
Total Pages : 771 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (517 download)

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Book Synopsis The Culture of Animals in Antiquity by : Sian Lewis

Download or read book The Culture of Animals in Antiquity written by Sian Lewis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-09 with total page 771 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Culture of Animals in Antiquity provides students and researchers with well-chosen and clearly presented ancient sources in translation, some well-known, others undoubtedly unfamiliar, but all central to a key area of study in ancient history: the part played by animals in the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. It brings new ideas to bear on the wealth of evidence – literary, historical and archaeological – which we possess for the experiences and roles of animals in the ancient world. Offering a broad picture of ancient cultures in the Mediterranean as part of a wider ecosystem, the volume is on an ambitious scale. It covers a broad span of time, from the sacred animals of dynastic Egypt to the imagery of the lamb in early Christianity, and of region, from the fallow deer introduced and bred in Roman Britain to the Asiatic lioness and her cubs brought as a gift by the Elamites to the Great King of Persia. This sourcebook is essential for anyone wishing to understand the role of animals in the ancient world and support learning for one of the fastest growing disciplines in Classics.

The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192650459
Total Pages : 641 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (926 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth by : Debbie Felton

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth written by Debbie Felton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-05-07 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth presents forty chapters about the unique and terrifying creatures from myths of the long-ago Near East and Mediterranean world, featuring authoritative contributions by many of the top international experts on ancient monsters and the monstrous. The first part provides original studies of individual monsters such as the Chimaera, Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Minotaur, and of monster groups such as dragons, centaurs, sirens, and Cyclopes. This section also explores their encounters with the major heroes of classical myth, including Perseus, Jason, Heracles, and Odysseus. The second part examines monsters of ancient folklore and ethnography, encompassing the restless dead, blood-drinking lamiae, exotic hybrid animals, the so-called dog-headed men, and many other unexpected creatures and peoples. The third part covers various interpretations of these creatures from multiple perspectives, including psychoanalysis, colonialism, and disability studies, with monster theory itself evident across the entire volume. The final part discusses reception of these ancient monsters across time and space--from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to modern times, from Persia to Scandinavia, the Caribbean, and Latin America-and concludes with chapters considering the use and adaptation of ancient monsters in children's literature, science fiction, fantasy, and modern scientific disciplines. This Handbook is the first large-scale, inclusive guide to monsters in antiquity, their places in literature and art across the millennia, and their influence on later literature and thought.

The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life

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Author :
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191035157
Total Pages : 657 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life by : Gordon Lindsay Campbell

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life written by Gordon Lindsay Campbell and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life is the first comprehensive guide to animals in the ancient world, encompassing all aspects of the topic by featuring authoritative chapters on 33 topics by leading scholars in their fields. As well as an introduction to, and a survey of, each topic, it provides guidance on further reading for those who wish to study a particular area in greater depth. Both the realities and the more theoretical aspects of the treatment of animals in ancient times are covered in chapters which explore the domestication of animals, animal husbandry, animals as pets, Aesop's Fables, and animals in classical art and comedy, all of which closely examine the nature of human-animal interaction. More abstract and philosophical topics are also addressed, including animal communication, early ideas on the origin of species, and philosophical vegetarianism and the notion of animal rights.

The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval Worlds

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317415698
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (174 download)

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Book Synopsis The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval Worlds by : Rebecca Futo Kennedy

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval Worlds written by Rebecca Futo Kennedy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval Worlds explores how environment was thought to shape ethnicity and identity, discussing developments in early natural philosophy and historical ethnographies. Defining ‘environment’ broadly to include not only physical but also cultural environments, natural and constructed, the volume considers the multifarious ways in which environment was understood to shape the culture and physical characteristics of peoples, as well as how the ancients manipulated their environments to achieve a desired identity. This diverse collection includes studies not only of the Greco-Roman world, but also ancient China and the European, Jewish and Arab inheritors and transmitters of classical thought. In recent years, work in this subject has been confined mostly to the discussion of texts that reflect an approach to the barbarian as ‘other’. The Routledge Handbook of Identity and the Environment in the Classical and Medieval Worlds takes the discussion of ethnicity on a fresh course, contextualising the concept of the barbarian within rational discourses such as cartography, medicine, and mathematical sciences, an approach that allows us to more clearly discern the varied and nuanced approaches to ethnic identity which abounded in antiquity. The innovative and thought-provoking material in this volume realises new directions in the study of identity in the Classical and Medieval worlds.

Animal Kingdom of Heaven

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110602350
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Animal Kingdom of Heaven by : Ingo Schaaf

Download or read book Animal Kingdom of Heaven written by Ingo Schaaf and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-09-23 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millennium transcends boundaries – between epochs and regions, and between disciplines. Like the Millennium-Jahrbuch, the journal Millennium-Studien pursues an international, interdisciplinary approach that cuts across historical eras. Composed of scholars from various disciplines, the editorial and advisory boards welcome submissions from a range of fields, including history, literary studies, art history, theology, and philosophy. Millennium-Studien also accepts manuscripts on Latin, Greek, and Oriental cultures. In addition to offering a forum for monographs and edited collections on diverse topics, Millennium-Studien publishes commentaries and editions. The journal primary accepts publications in German and English, but also considers submissions in French, Italian, and Spanish. If you want to submit a manuscript please send it to the editor from the most relevant discipline: Wolfram Brandes, Frankfurt (Byzantine Studies and Early Middle Ages): [email protected] Peter von Möllendorff, Gießen (Greek language and literature): [email protected] Dennis Pausch, Dresden (Latin language and literature): [email protected] Rene Pfeilschifter, Würzburg (Ancient History): [email protected] Karla Pollmann, Bristol (Early Christianity and Patristics): [email protected] All manuscript submissions will be reviewed by the editor and one outside specialist (single-blind peer review).

Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore

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Author :
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786495057
Total Pages : 428 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (864 download)

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Book Synopsis Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore by : Theresa Bane

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore written by Theresa Bane and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-05-09 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Here there be dragons"--this notation was often made on ancient maps to indicate the edges of the known world and what lay beyond. Heroes who ventured there were only as great as the beasts they encountered. This encyclopedia contains more than 2,200 monsters of myth and folklore, who both made life difficult for humans and fought by their side. Entries describe the appearance, behavior, and cultural origin of mythic creatures well-known and obscure, collected from traditions around the world.

Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351335472
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals by : Stephen T. Newmyer

Download or read book Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals written by Stephen T. Newmyer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers a new translation of Plutarch’s three treatises on animals—On the Cleverness of Animals, Whether Beasts Are Rational, and On Eating Meat—accompanied by introductions and explanatory commentaries. The accompanying commentaries are designed not only to elucidate the meaning of the Greek text, but to call attention to Plutarch’s striking anticipations of arguments central to current philosophical and ethological discourse in defense of the position that non-human animals have intellectual and emotional dimensions that make them worthy of inclusion in the moral universe of human beings. Plutarch’s Three Treatises on Animals will be of interest to students of ancient philosophy and natural science, and to all readers who wish to explore the history of thought on human–non-human animal relations, in which the animal treatises of Plutarch hold a pivotal position.

Animals and their Relation to Gods, Humans and Things in the Ancient World

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3658243880
Total Pages : 485 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (582 download)

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Book Synopsis Animals and their Relation to Gods, Humans and Things in the Ancient World by : Raija Mattila

Download or read book Animals and their Relation to Gods, Humans and Things in the Ancient World written by Raija Mattila and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-03-11 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While Human-Animal Studies is a rapidly growing field in modern history, studies on this topic that focus on the Ancient World are few. The present volume aims at closing this gap. It investigates the relation between humans, animals, gods, and things with a special focus on the structure of these categories. An improved understanding of the ancient categories themselves is a precondition for any investigation into the relation between them. The focus of the volume lies on the Ancient Near East, but it also provides studies on Ancient Greece, Asia Minor, Mesoamerica, the Far East, and Arabia.

Birds in the Ancient World

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191022713
Total Pages : 476 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Birds in the Ancient World by : Jeremy Mynott

Download or read book Birds in the Ancient World written by Jeremy Mynott and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-10 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Birds pervaded the ancient world, impressing their physical presence on the daily experience and imaginations of ordinary people and figuring prominently in literature and art. They provided a fertile source of symbols and stories in myths and folklore and were central to the ancient rituals of augury and divination. Jeremy Mynott's Birds in the Ancient World illustrates the many different roles birds played in culture: as indicators of time, weather and the seasons; as a resource for hunting, eating, medicine and farming; as domestic pets and entertainments; and as omens and intermediaries between the gods and humankind. We learn how birds were perceived - through quotations from well over a hundred classical Greek and Roman authors, all of them translated freshly into English, through nearly 100 illustrations from ancient wall-paintings, pottery and mosaics, and through selections from early scientific writings, and many anecdotes and descriptions from works of history, geography and travel. Jeremy Mynott acts as a stimulating guide to this rich and fascinating material, using birds as a prism through which to explore both the similarities and the often surprising differences between ancient conceptions of the natural world and our own. His book is an original contribution to the flourishing interest in the cultural history of birds and to our understanding of the ancient cultures in which birds played such a prominent part.

Premodern Monsters: A Varied Compilation of Pre-modern Judeo-Christian and Japanese Buddhist Monstrous Discourses

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Author :
Publisher : Vernon Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 221 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (819 download)

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Book Synopsis Premodern Monsters: A Varied Compilation of Pre-modern Judeo-Christian and Japanese Buddhist Monstrous Discourses by : Allan Wright

Download or read book Premodern Monsters: A Varied Compilation of Pre-modern Judeo-Christian and Japanese Buddhist Monstrous Discourses written by Allan Wright and published by Vernon Press. This book was released on with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monster Studies is a rising academic topic. Despite hesitancy at first, the subject is now examined by scholars of various academic interests and backgrounds. However, the dominant monster investigations are from the post-1900s. This volume focuses on Premodern monsters. The purpose of this volume is to examine various monsters from diverse cultures in order to indicate how each monstrous discourse derives from their mythology’s socio-cultural context. The volume examines several Monsters within their socio-cultural matrix. This includes a variety of monstrosities from diverse cultures and periods. Namely, the examined creatures, or perceived creatures, stem from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament (Pauline epistles), Reformation England, the Japanese Noh play Dōjōji, Yamauba Myths, and Yōkai Relics from early modern Japanese Buddhism.

The Apostle to the Foreskin

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110981726
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis The Apostle to the Foreskin by : Ryan D. Collman

Download or read book The Apostle to the Foreskin written by Ryan D. Collman and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers a comprehensive examination of circumcision and foreskin in the undisputed Pauline epistles. Historically, Paul's discourse on circumcision has been read through the lens of Paul's supposed abandonment of Judaism and conversion to 'Christianity.' Recent scholarship on Paul, however, has challenged the idea that Paul ever abandoned Judaism. In the context of this revisionist reading of Paul, Ryan Collman argues that Paul never repudiates, redefines, or replaces circumcision. Rather, Paul's discourse on circumcision (and foreskin) is shaped by his understanding of ethnicity and his bifurcation of humanity into the categories of Jews and the nations—the circumcision and the foreskin. Collman argues that Paul does not deny the continuing validity (and importance) of circumcision for Jewish followers of Jesus, but categorically refuses that gentile believers can undergo circumcision. By reading this language in its historical, rhetorical, epistolary, and ethnic contexts, Collman offers a number of new readings of difficult Pauline texts (e.g., Rom 4:9–12; Gal 5:1–4; Phil 3:2–3).

Materia Magica

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Author :
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472117793
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (721 download)

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Book Synopsis Materia Magica by : Andrew Wilburn

Download or read book Materia Magica written by Andrew Wilburn and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Materia Magica approaches magic as a material endeavor, in which spoken spells, ritual actions, and physical objects all played vital roles in the performance of a rite. Through case studies drawing on objects excavated or discovered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century at three Mediterranean sites, Andrew T. Wilburn identifies previously unknown forms of magic. He discovers evidence of the practice of magic in objects of ancient daily life, suggesting that individuals frequently turned to magic, particularly in times of crises. Studying the remains of spells enacted by practitioners, Wilburn examines the material remains of magical practice by identifying and placing them within their archaeological contexts. His method of connecting an analysis of the texts and inscriptions found on artifacts of magic with a close consideration of the physical form of these objects illuminates an exciting path toward new discoveries in the field.