Mit einem vielseitigen Themenrepertoire wartet der dritte Band der Reihe „Orient und Okzident in der Antike“ auf. Die Beiträge der Spitzenforscher aus der Türkei, aus den USA sowie aus Norwegen und Deutschland erfassen geographisch die Gebiete der Westtürkei, reichen chronologisch von der menschlichen Frühgeschichte bis zur Gegenwart und behandeln thematisch Neufunde rezenter Ausgrabungen, Bestandsaufnahmen und systematisierende Analysen sowie diffizile Fragen der Restauration, Bewahrung und Präsentation des unschätzbar wertvollen historischen Erbes auf dem Gebiete der Türkei. Zugleich geben die Beiträge einen Einblick in die aspektenreiche wissenschaftliche Tätigkeit von Recep Meriç, dem die Beitragenden persönlich verbunden sind.

This volume explores the power of matter and materials in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium. Recent attention to matter as dynamic and meaningful constitutes an emerging, interdisciplinary field of inquiry known as materiality, new materialism, or the material turn. Materials can be symbolic, but matter can also act on human subjects. This volume builds on these insights to consider the role of matter, materials, form, and embodied experiences in Byzantium. In many respects, Byzantine materiality represents a continuation of its Greco-Roman inheritance, which was also shared by neighboring peoples such as the Umayyads and Abbasids. But the Byzantines also developed their own, unique perspectives on matter and form, as with their parsing of the sacred materialities of icons, the Eucharist, and relics. Chapters in this volume consider the cultural meanings and functions of materials such as gold and ivory, the materiality of icons and relics, experiences of objects, as well as Byzantine philosophies of matter and form. Materiality takes center stage in Byzantine constructions of power, luxury, belief, and identity, which will be of interest to scholars and students of Byzantium and the wider medieval world.

Metaphors are a vital linguistic component of religious speech and serve as a cultural indicator of how groups understand themselves and the world. The essays compiled in this volume analyze the use, function, and structure of metaphors in Jewish writings from the Hellenistic-Roman period (including the works of Philo and the texts of Qumran), as well as in apocryphal early Christian texts and inscriptions.

This publication is engaged in issues, trends, and themes depicted on mosaic pavements discovered in Israel, the Gaza Strip and Petra (the provinces of ancient Palaestina Prima, Secunda and Tertia) with comparable floors in Jordan (Arabia). The majority of the mosaic pavements discussed in this study are dated to the 4th-8th centuries CE. Mosaic pavements were the normal medium for decorating the floors of synagogues, churches, monasteries, and chapels, as well as public and private buildings. Inscriptions found on many of the pavements commemorate the donors, refer to the artists, and sometimes date the mosaics. The ornamentation of the mosaics in this region is remarkable, rich, and varied in its themes and provides many insights into the contemporary artistic and social cultures.

This book reveals how 'marginal' aspects of Graeco-Roman art play a fundamental role in shaping and interrogating ancient and modern visual culture.