Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
Comparative study of ancient cultures--especially ancient religious conceptions--has evolved in recent decades, and this volume meets an important desideratum in light of scholarly advances... 'Key Topics' is the most distinctive feature of the book, and one that will make this reference tool valuable for many years to come, especially when used together with the first two parts for comparative purposes...This volume contains a wealth of information. Bill T. Arnold
Review
Comparative study of ancient cultures--especially ancient religious conceptions--has evolved in recent decades, and this volume meets an important desideratum in light of scholarly advances... 'Key Topics' is themost distinctive feature of the book, and one that will make this reference tool valuable for many years to come, especially when used together with the first two parts for comparative purposes...This volume contains a wealth ofinformation.
Review
Every once in a long while, a reference work comes along that is certain from the outset to become a well-used standard. Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide is such a work, which is unsurprising given that approximately one hundred forty top scholars contributed to the articles inside. Not quite an encyclopedia, not quite a collection of essays, this unique volume is the first comprehensive and comparative reference guide to a wide array of topics in ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern religions. Review of Biblical Literature
Synopsis
Religious beliefs and practices, which permeated all aspects of life in antiquity, traveled well-worn routes throughout the Mediterranean. 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.
About the Author
Sarah Iles Johnston is Professor of Greek and Latin at Ohio State University.
Ohio State University
Table of Contents
Introduction
Sarah Iles Johnston Note on Translation and Transliteration
Abbreviations
Maps
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
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
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
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Index
Color plates follow p. 172