From Hellenism to Islam: Cultural and Linguistic Change in the Roman Near East

Cambridge University Press, 9/3/2009
EAN 9780521875813, ISBN10: 0521875811

Hardcover, 514 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm
Language: English

The eight hundred years between the first Roman conquests and the conquest of Islam saw a rich, constantly shifting blend of languages and writing systems, legal structures, religious practices and beliefs in the Near East. While the different ethnic groups and cultural forms often clashed with each other, adaptation was as much a characteristic of the region as conflict. This volume, emphasizing the inscriptions in many languages from the Near East, brings together mutually informative studies by scholars in diverse fields. Together, they reveal how the different languages, peoples and cultures interacted, competed with, tried to ignore or were influenced by each other, and how their relationships evolved over time. It will be of great value to those interested in Greek and Roman history, Jewish history and Near Eastern studies.

Introduction Fergus Millar
Part I. The Language of Power
Latin in the Roman Near East
1. The presence, role and significance of Latin in the epigraphy and culture of the Roman Near East Werner Eck
2. Latin in cities of the Roman Near East Benjamin Isaac
Part II. Social and Legal Institutions as Reflected in the Documentary Evidence
3. Euergetism in Josephus and the epigraphic culture of first-century Jerusalem Seth Schwartz
4. Legal and social status of threptoi and related categories in narrative and documentary sources Marijana Ricl
5. Ritual performances of divine justice
the epigraphy of confession, atonement, and exaltation in Roman Asia Minor Angelos Chaniotis
6. Continuity of Nabataean law in the Petra papyri
a methodological exercise Hannah M. Cotton
Part III. The Epigraphic Language of Religion
7. 'Languages' and religion in second-fourth century Palestine. In search of the impact of Rome Nicole Belayche
8. The epigraphic habit and the Jewish diasporas of Asia Minor and Syria Walter Ameling
9. Religion and language in Dura-Europos Ted Kaizer
Part IV. Linguistic Metamorphoses and Continuity of Cultures
10. On the margins of culture
the practice of transcription in the ancient world Jonathan Price and Shlomo Naeh
11. Edessene Syriac inscriptions in late antique Syria Sebastian Brock
12. Samaritan writing and writings Dan Barag
13. The Jewish magical tradition from late antique Palestine to the Cairo Geniza Gideon Bohak
Part V. Greek into Arabic
14. The Nabataean connection of the Benei Hezir Axel Knauf
15. Greek inscriptions in transition from the Byzantine to the early Islamic period Leah Di Segni
16. Arab kings, Arab tribes and the beginnings of Arab historical memory in late Roman epigraphy Robert Hoyland
17. Greek, Coptic, and the 'language of the Hijra'
rise and decline of the Coptic language in late antique and medieval Egypt Sebastian Richter
18. 'What remains behind'
Hellenism and Romanitas in Christian Egypt after the Arab conquest Arietta Papaconstantinou.