Explore an insightful account of the reception of Mesopotamia in modern cinema In Reception of Mesopotamia on Film, Dr. Maria de Fátima Rosa explores how the Ancient Mesopotamian civilization was portrayed by the movie industry, especially in America and Italy, and how it was used to convey analogies between ancient and contemporary cultural and moral contexts. Spanning a period that stretches from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, the book explores how the Assyrian and Babylonian elites, particularly kings, queens, and priestesses, were perceived and represented on screen by filmmakers. A focus on the role played by Ancient Near Eastern women and on the polytheistic religion practiced in the land between the rivers will be provided. This book also offers an insightful interpretation of the bias message that most of these films portray and how the Mesopotamian past and Antiquity brought to light and stimulated the debate on emerging 20th century political and social issues. The book also offers: A thorough introduction to the Old Testament paradigm and the romanticism of classical authors A comprehensive exploration of the literary reception of the Mesopotamian legacy and its staging Practical discussions of the rediscovery, appropriation, and visual reproduction of Assyria and Babylonia In-depth examinations of cinematic genres and cinematographic contexts Perfect for students of the history of antiquity and cinematographic history, Reception of Mesopotamia on Film is also an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in reception studies.

Explore an insightful account of the reception of Mesopotamia in modern cinema In Reception of Mesopotamia on Film, Dr. Maria de Fátima Rosa explores how the Ancient Mesopotamian civilization was portrayed by the movie industry, especially in America and Italy, and how it was used to convey analogies between ancient and contemporary cultural and moral contexts. Spanning a period that stretches from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, the book explores how the Assyrian and Babylonian elites, particularly kings, queens, and priestesses, were perceived and represented on screen by filmmakers. A focus on the role played by Ancient Near Eastern women and on the polytheistic religion practiced in the land between the rivers will be provided. This book also offers an insightful interpretation of the bias message that most of these films portray and how the Mesopotamian past and Antiquity brought to light and stimulated the debate on emerging 20th century political and social issues. The book also offers: A thorough introduction to the Old Testament paradigm and the romanticism of classical authors A comprehensive exploration of the literary reception of the Mesopotamian legacy and its staging Practical discussions of the rediscovery, appropriation, and visual reproduction of Assyria and Babylonia In-depth examinations of cinematic genres and cinematographic contexts Perfect for students of the history of antiquity and cinematographic history, Reception of Mesopotamia on Film is also an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in reception studies.

"Introduction: reception of Mesopotamia and the cinema lens reception studies and cinema studies on reception of antiquity are relatively recent. Charles Martindale first included reception theory in the field of Classical Studies in 1993 with Redeeming the Text: Latin poetry and the hermeneutics of reception. The Professor of Latin from the University of Bristol was inspired by the research line inaugurated by the Constance School, with scholars such as Wolfgang Iser and especially Hans Robert Jauss, who, in the 1960s, boosted the field named Aesthetic of Reception. Jauss postulated that the observer of a work of art should be given an active role. In broad terms, he considered that the work of art was not a static or timeless phenomenon . In his own words, "A literary work is not an object that stands by itself and that offers the same view to each reader in each period. It is not a monument that monologically reveals its timeless essence. It is much more like an orchestration that strikes ever new resonances among its readers and that frees the text from the material of the words and brings it to a contemporary existence" . Martindale thus resorted to this seminal work to introduce new conceptions in the study of Classics, claiming, like Jauss before him, that an author has no control over his work since it does not have an immutable meaning, always depending on the interpretations made about it and hence subjected to the cognitive role of the observer / reader, the "active principle" "--

This book is an enthusiastic celebration of the ways in which popular culture has consumed aspects of the ancient Near East to construct new realities. The editors have brought together an impressive line-up of scholars-archaeologists, philologists, historians, and art historians-to reflect on how objects, ideas, and interpretations of the ancient Near East have been remembered, constructed, reimagined, mythologized, or indeed forgotten within our shared cultural memories. The exploration of cultural memories has revealed how they inform the values, structures, and daily life of societies over time. This is therefore not a collection of essays about the deep past but rather about the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.

In film imagery, urban spaces show up not only as spatial settings of a story, but also as projected ideas and forms that aim to recreate and capture the spirit of cultures, societies and epochs. Some cinematic cities have even managed to transcend fiction to become part of modern collective memory. Can we imagine a futuristic city not inspired at least remotely by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis? In the same way, ancient Babylon, Troy and Rome can hardly be shaped in popular imagination without conscious or subconscious references to the striking visions of Griffiths’ Intolerance, Petersen’s Troy and Scott’s Gladiator, to mention only a few influential examples. Imagining Ancient Cities in Film explores for the first time in scholarship film representations of cities of the Ancient World from early cinema to the 21st century. The volume analyzes the different choices made by filmmakers, art designers and screen writers to recreate ancient urban spaces as more or less convincing settings of mythical and historical events. In looking behind and beyond intended archaeological accuracy, symbolic fantasy, primitivism, exoticism and Hollywood-esque monumentality, this volume pays particular attention to the depiction of cities as faces of ancient civilizations, but also as containers of moral ideas and cultural fashions deeply rooted in the contemporary zeitgeist and in continuously revisited traditions.

Described by the editor as unpretentious roamings on the odd little byways of the history of ancient Mesopotamia, these 15 articles were originally published in the French journal L'Histoire and are designed to serve as an introductory sampling of the historical research on the lost civilization. Chapters explore cuisine, sexuality, women's rights, architecture, magic and medicine, myth, legend, and other aspects of Mesopotamian life. Originally published as Initiation a l'Orient ancien . Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

An introduction to how the ancient world is represented in film, especially in Hollywood cinema, and considers the potential that movies have to help us think about antiquity and their relationship with traditional academic historical work.