Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide

Description

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. Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide Contents Introduction (Sarah Iles Johnston) Note on Translation and Transliteration Abbreviations Maps Color Plates (follow page 172) 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 & David Frankfurter) Mesopotamia (Paul-Alain Beaulieu) Syria and Canaan (David P. Wright) Israel (John J. Collins) Anatolia: Hittites (David P. Wright) Iran (William Malandra & 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