The revelation of YHWH's name to Moses is a momentous event according to the Old Testament. The name `Yahweh' is of central importance in Judaism, and `Yahwism' became tantamount to Jewish monotheism. As such, this designation of God also attracted the attention of pagan writers in the Graeco-Roman period. And early Christians had to deal...
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535), as befits a great magician, left behind him a number of mysteries for posterity. In two letters to his friends, in which he discussed the progress of his great treatise on magic De occulta philosophia libri tres1 [Three Books of Occult Philosophy, hereafter DOP ], Agrippa wrote of a...
This book consists of a collage of images that attempts to convey the transformation of consumer culture and how it is related to the urban reshaping of the city of Cairo to meet with the demands of globalisation. Analyzing the shift from socialist economy to the opening up of Egypt's economy, and how this has affected everyday life of...
Archaeological report on el-Ahwat, a mysterious but important site in the highlands of ancient Canaan. In previous publications, the author suggested that el-Ahwat may be identified with the biblical site of harosheth hagoiim (Judges 4-5).
I first heard of el-Ahwat in the summer
of 1995, when I was invited
to see the new site...
As the medical historian Vivian Nutton writes in his study on Greek
and Roman health systems ‘History is an art of forgetting as well as of
remembrance’.1 Indeed, what is basic to the study of ancient civilizations
is the reconstruction of the written word and, consequently, some consideration
of whether the available...
This book began its life as my doctoral dissertation at the University of
Pennsylvania. Many thanks to my mentors: the members of my committee,
Josef Wegner, David P. Silverman, and Miroslav Bárta, who provided
helpful feedback and support at the early stages of my research,
and Salima
A comprehensive examination of the effects of the shifting seasons on maritime trade, warfare and piracy durig antiquity, this book overturns many long-held assumptions concerning the capabilities of Graeco-Roman ships and sailors.
It is the long-standing belief among classical scholars that seafaring on
the ancient Mediterranean...
Mordechai Cogan (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania) is Professor Emeritus
of Biblical History in the Department of Jewish History, The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem. He has written widely on the relationship of Israel
and Judah with the Mesopotamian empires during the first millennium
b.c.e., and history-writing in the ancient...
As I reflect on the support and encouragement that I have received in
moving me toward the completion of this project, first in its dissertation
form (Greer 2011) and now revised as a book, it brings me great joy to
acknowledge those institutions, mentors, colleagues, friends, and family
who have made this work a reality.
...
The Fabric of Cities presents an interdisciplinary collection of articles on urbanism in ancient Mesopotamia, Israel, Greece and Rome, which focuses on the social dimension of cities' topographical features. The contributions of this book offer investigations of neighbourhoods, city gates, streets, temples and palaces drawing on textual...
"The Furniture from Tumulus MM" is a study of the furniture from the largest tomb at Gordion, Turkey, excavated in 1957 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The tomb dates to the eighth century BC and is thought to be the burial of the great Phrygian king Midas or his father. The objects, initially misunderstood, are now...
This book investigates multiple musical traditions in South East Europe, crossing conventional borders between musicology and ethnomusicology in an attempt to elucidate how music has contributed to the definition of national, regional and social identities in the region.
