Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
|||
Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeology by period / region > European archaeology
One of the greatest historians of the twentieth century, Arnaldo Momigliano (1908-1987) is known for his path-breaking studies of ancient Greek and Roman history. The encyclopedic knowledge of the ancient world that Momigliano brought to his work, however, enabled him to make connections between ancient history and the subsequent study of that history. His sweeping vision stretched from antiquity to the present day. In Momigliano and Antiquarianism, Peter N. Miller brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars to provide the first serious study of Momigliano's history of historical scholarship. At its core, this collection is devoted to one of Momigliano's most celebrated subjects the history of antiquarianism, and one of his most audacious claims, that the decay of early modern antiquarianism actually gave birth to the modern cultural sciences - history, sociology, anthropology, art history, archaeology, and history of religion. Filling a gap in the scholarship, this erudite collection will prove fascinating to teachers and students of classics, history, and the human sciences.
The Hellenistic Period witnessed striking new developments in art, literature and science. This volume addresses a particularly vibrant area of innovation: the study of animals and the natural world. While Aristotle and his followers had revolutionized fields such as zoology and botany during the fourth century BC, these disciplines took on exciting new directions during Hellenistic times. Kings imported exotic species into their royal capitals from faraway lands. Travel writers described unusual creatures that they had never previously encountered. And buyers from a range of social levels chose works of art featuring animals and plants to decorate their palaces, houses and tombs. While textual sources shed some light on these developments, the central premise of Art, Science and the Natural World in the Ancient Mediterranean is that our surviving artistic evidence permits a fuller understanding. Accordingly, the study brings together a rich body of visual material that invites new observations on how and why knowledge of the natural world became so important during this period. It is suggested that this cultural phenomenon affected many different groups in society: from kings in Alexandria and Pergamon to provincial aristocrats in the Levant, and from the Julio-Claudian imperial family to prosperous homeowners in Pompeii. By analysing the works of art produced for these individuals, a vivid picture emerges of this remarkable aspect of ancient culture.
A penetrating and lucid history of the best-known and most spectacular monument to the Roman Empire in Britain In this new edition of their remarkable book, the authors have updated their study of the famous Wall that divided Britain in two. Occasionally the Romans would march north and consider the complete conquest of the island; at other times the northern tribes would spill over the Wall to pillage the Roman province. Despite this, for three hundred years, with very few lapses, the peace of the frontier was regulated by the troops along the Wall. Only when the Western Empire fell did the soldiers drift away and the Wall decay. Taking into account new research findings about the building of the Wall, David Breeze and Brian Dobson include fascinating details about the Roman army, its religion and daily bureaucratic life. A selection of photographs, maps and diagrams help to make this a book for both the expert and the layman, being simultaneously erudite and unusually accessible.
The discovery of and excavations at Pompeii in the second half of
the eighteenth century not only provided historians with a trove of
information about ancient Roman civilization but also fired
artists' imaginations and inaugurated the vogue for the "Pompeian
style" that so influenced the West in the nineteenth century.
Written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the country's leading political and military historians, Canada's Army traces the full three-hundred-year history of the Canadian military. This thoroughly revised third edition brings Granatstein's work up to date with fresh material and new scholarship on the evolving role of the military in Canadian society. It includes new coverage of the War in Afghanistan; NATO deployments to Poland, Latvia, and Iraq; aid to the civil power deployments; and the role of the army reserve. Masterfully written and passionately argued, Canada's Army offers a rich analysis of the political context for the battles and events that shape our understanding of the Canadian military.
This brief guide informs the reader about the collections of the National Archaeological Museum and the wealth and variety of its exhibits, which span the long history of the ancient world. Rather than giving detailed descriptions of the various items on display, it gives general information about all the collections, with an emphasis on the way they are presented in the rooms of the Museum. At the same time it illustrates works which are representative of each collection and which bear witness to the artistic quality and value of the exhibits in the largest and most important museum in Greece.
One marker of the majesty of ancient Rome is its surviving architectural legacy, the stunning remains of which are scattered throughout the circum-Mediterranean landscape. Surprisingly, one truly remarkable aspect of this heritage remains relatively unknown. There exists beneath the waters of the Mediterranean the physical remnants of a vast maritime infrastructure that sustained and connected the western world's first global empire and economy. The key to this incredible accomplishment and to the survival of structures in the hostile environment of the sea for two thousand years was maritime concrete, a building material invented and then employed by Roman builders on a grand scale to construct harbor installations anywhere they were needed, rather than only in locations with advantageous geography or topography. This book explains how the Romans built so successfully in the sea with their new invention. The story is a stimulating mix of archaeological, geological, historical and chemical research, with relevance to both ancient and modern technology. It also breaks new ground in bridging the gap between science and the humanities by integrating analytical materials science, history, and archaeology, along with underwater exploration. The book will be of interest to anyone interested in Roman architecture and engineering, and it will hold special interest for geologists and mineralogists studying the material characteristics of pyroclastic volcanic rocks and their alteration in seawater brines. The demonstrable durability and longevity of Roman maritime concrete structures may be of special interest to engineers working on cementing materials appropriate for the long-term storage of hazardous substances such as radioactive waste. A pioneering methodology was used to bore into maritime structures both on land and in the sea to collect concrete cores for testing in the research laboratories of the CTG Italcementi Group, a leading cement producer in Italy, the University of Berkeley, and elsewhere. The resulting mechanical, chemical and physical analysis of 36 concrete samples taken from 11 sites in Italy and the eastern Mediterranean have helped fill many gaps in our knowledge of how the Romans built in the sea. To gain even more knowledge of the ancient maritime technology, the directors of the Roman Maritime Concrete Study (ROMACONS) engaged in an ambitious and unique experimental archaeological project - the construction underwater of a reproduction of a Roman concrete pier or pila. The same raw materials and tools available to the ancient builders were employed to produce a reproduction concrete structure that appears to be remarkably similar to the ancient one studied during ROMACON's fieldwork between 2002-2009. This volume reveals a remarkable and unique archaeological project that highlights the synergy that now exists between the humanities and science in our continuing efforts to understand the past. It will quickly become a standard research tool for all interested in Roman building both in the sea and on land, and in the history and chemistry of marine concrete. The authors also hope that the data and observations it presents will stimulate further research by scholars and students into related topics, since we have so much more to learn in the years ahead.
Douglas Parker presents an old-spelling, critical edition of William Roye's English translation of Erasmus' "An exhortation to the diligent studye of scripture (or Paraclesis)," and Martin Luther's "An exposition in to the seventh chaptre of the pistle to the Corinthians" (his commentary on St. Paul's 1 Corinthians 7), first published together in 1529. Roye's translation of Erasmus' Paraclesis was momentous because it underscored the reformers' call for a vernacular Bible, thereby providing them with a voice of authority that conservative forces could not ignore. Roye's translation of Luther was the first full-scale English rendering of a work by the great arch-heretic, and its subject matter (the iniquities of the unmarried clergy) suggested a unity of vision between European and English reformers. Most importantly, these two tracts were published together, ironically enough, thereby suggesting a unity of vision that neither Erasmus nor Luther would have been prepared to countenance. Parker's thorough volume includes: a literary/historical introduction situating the text and explaining its importance for the English reform movement; an essay on the fidelity of Roye's English renderings of the original Latin and German texts; commentary that glosses difficult readings, identifies all biblical and secular references, provides analogues from early English reformation tracts and from some of Erasmus' and Luther's other writings. This is a critical work for scholars of the English reformation movement.
Echoes of the Middle Ages are all around us in Britain. Sites like the Tower of London, Hampton Court, and the castles of Scotland and Wales are mainstays of cultural tourism, Medieval institutions like the monarchy, monasteries, and universities are familiar to us, and we come into contact with the remnants of Britain's medieval past every day we drive past a castle on a hill or visit a local church. People today can come into direct contact with their medieval predecessors through the inspiring cross-section of later medieval finds that can now be found on display in museums across the country. In many ways, the medieval past has never been so present. The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain provides an overview of the archaeology of the later Middle Ages in Britain between AD 1066 and 1550. Sixty-one entries, divided into ten thematic sections, cover topics ranging from later medieval objects, human remains, archaeological science, standing buildings, and sites such as castles and monasteries, to the well-preserved relict landscapes which still survive. This is a rich and exciting period of the past and most of what we know about the material culture of the medieval period has been discovered in the past two generations. This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the latest research and describes the major projects and concepts that are changing our understanding of the later Middle Ages.
Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus deals with small, but highly captivating and stimulating artwork - engraved gemstones. Although in antiquity intaglios and cameos had multiple applications (seals, jewellery or amulets), the images engraved upon them are snapshots of people's beliefs, ideologies, and everyday occupations. They cast light on the self-advertising and propaganda actions performed by Roman political leaders, especially Octavian/Augustus, their factions and other people engaged in the politics and social life of the past. Gems can show both general trends (the specific showpieces like State Cameos) as well as the individual and private acts of being involved in politics and social affairs, mainly through a subtle display of political allegiances, since they were objects of strictly personal use. They enable us to analyse and learn about Roman propaganda and various social behaviours from a completely different angle than coins, sculpture or literature. The miniaturism of ancient gems is in inverse proportion to their cultural significance. This book presents an evolutionary model of the use of engraved gems from self-presentation (3rd-2nd century BC) to personal branding and propaganda purposes in the Roman Republic and under Augustus (until 14 AD). The specific characteristics of engraved gems, their strictly private character and the whole array of devices appearing on them are examined in respect to their potential propagandistic value and usefulness in social life. The wide scope of this analysis provides a comprehensive picture covering many aspects of Roman propaganda and a critical survey of the overinterpretations of this term in regard to the glyptic art. The aim is the incorporation of this class of archaeological artefacts into the well-established studies of Roman propaganda, as well as the Roman society in general, brought about by discussion of the interconnections with ancient literary sources as well as other categories of Roman art and craftsmanship, notably coins but also sculpture and relief.
This book has come about as a result of the project 'Roman Funerary Monuments of South-Western Pannonia in their Material, Social, and Religious Context', unfolding between 2015 and 2018 in the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts under the auspices of the Croatian Science Foundation, with B. Migotti as the project leader and M. Sasel Kos and I. Radman-Livaja as collaborators. 'Roman Funerary Monuments of South-Western Pannonia in their Material, Social, and Religious Context' examines around two hundred funerary monuments and fragments (stelai, sarcophagi, ash-chests, tituli, altars, medallions and buildings) from three Roman cities in the south-west part of the Roman province of Pannonia in the territory of north-west Croatia: colonia Siscia (Sisak) and municipia Andautonia (Scitarjevo) and Aquae Balissae (Daruvar). A juxtaposition of the evidence from three administrative units of different dimensions and municipal profiles, and of unequal importance in the wider area, offered a good opportunity for a meaningful comparison of the main components for a reconstruction of material, social and cultural components of the three Romano-provincial communities. The components studied were: 1 - territorial scope of the individual cities; 2 - quantification of the monuments in terms of kinds and chronology; 3 - structural typology and iconography; 4 - social aspects of the monument use; 5 - ritual and religious aspects (incineration vs. inhumation, classical religion vs. Christianity); 6 - geo-archaeological aspect. The most valuable contributions have been achieved in the geo-archaeological field, as such research had never been carried out in the studied area before.
King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to have discovered the 'facts' about, or to unlock the secret or truth behind, the 'once and future king'. Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs. On the one hand is the traditional 'historical' Arthur, waging a doomed struggle to save Roman civilization against the relentless Anglo-Saxon tide during the darkest years of the Dark Ages. On the other is the Arthur of myth and legend - accompanied by a host of equally legendary people, places, and stories: Lancelot, Guinevere, Galahad and Gawain, Merlin, Excalibur, the Lady in the Lake, the Sword in the Stone, Camelot, the Round Table. The big problem with all this is that 'King Arthur' might well never have existed. And if he did exist, it is next to impossible to say anything at all about him. As this challenging new look at the Arthur legend makes clear, all books claiming to reveal 'the truth' behind King Arthur can safely be ignored. Not only the 'red herrings' in the abundant pseudo-historical accounts, even the 'historical' Arthur is largely a figment of the imagination: the evidence that we have - whether written or archaeological - is simply incapable of telling us anything detailed about the Britain in which he is supposed to have lived, fought, and died. The truth, as Guy Halsall reveals in this fascinating investigation, is both radically different - and also a good deal more intriguing.
Childhood and Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture counters the generally received wisdom that early medieval childhood and adolescence were an unremittingly bleak experience. The contributors analyse representations of children and their education in Old English, Old Norse and Anglo-Latin writings, including hagiography, heroic poetry, riddles, legal documents, philosophical prose and elegies. Within and across these linguistic and generic boundaries some key themes emerge: the habits and expectations of name-giving, expressions of childhood nostalgia, the role of uneducated parents, and the religious zeal and rebelliousness of youth. After decades of study dominated by adult gender studies, Childhood and Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture rebalances our understanding of family life in the Anglo-Saxon era by reconstructing the lives of medieval children and adolescents through their literary representation.
Greek sanctuaries are among the best known archaeological sites in ancient Greece. However, after over 150 years of excavations and research we know surprisingly little about some of their aspects, such as the rituals enacted in the sanctuary, the nature of original local deities and how aspects of their character were assimilated into those of the Olympians, why sanctuaries were established in certain places, and how to determine who the sanctuary was established for when no epigraphical material is present. Artemis and Her Cult provides a first attempt to bring together archaeological and literary sources from two main Artemis sanctuaries, hoping to contribute to a clearer picture of her cult. An account of Artemis' different characters describes her as a mother of gods, a goddess of wilderness, animals and hunt; a goddess of birth, infants and children (and young animals); as well as a goddess of youth and marriage and rites of passage. These descriptions are followed by an up-to-date account of the archaeological record of the sanctuaries of Artemis Orthia at Sparta and Artemis Ephesia at Ephesus. For the comparison the site of Athena Alea at Tegea is examined. The three accounts offer a full study of the architectural development and the range of artefacts made of different materials. The varied character is Artemis are further analysed by looking at the archaeology relating to the cult and the rites of passage taking place at the sites. The rites of passage are reconstructed by using the literary accounts.
Examining how German women physicians gained a foothold in the medical profession during the Weimar and Nazi periods, Women Doctors in Weimar and Nazi Germany reveals the continuity in rhetoric, strategy, and tactics of female doctors who worked under both regimes. Melissa Kravetz explains how and why women occupied particular fields within the medical profession, how they presented themselves in their professional writing, and how they reconciled their medical perspectives with their views of the Weimar and later the Nazi state. Focusing primarily on those women who were members of the Bund Deutscher AErztinnen (League of German Female Physicians or BDAE), this study shows that female physicians used maternalist and, to a lesser extent, eugenic arguments to make a case for their presence in particular medical spaces. They emphasized gender difference to claim that they were better suited than male practitioners to care for women and children in a range of new medical spaces. During the Weimar Republic, they laid claim to marriage counselling centres, school health reform, and the movements against alcoholism, venereal disease, and prostitution. In the Nazi period, they emphasized their importance to the Bund Deutscher Madels (League of German Girls), the Reichsmutterdienst (Reich Mothers' Service), and breast milk collection efforts. Women doctors also tried to instil middle-class values into their working-class patients while fashioning themselves as advocates for lower-class women.
The history of German medicine has undergone intense scrutiny because of its indelible connection to Nazi crimes. What is less well known is that Meiji Japan adopted German medicine as its official model in 1869. In Doctors of Empire, Hoi-eun Kim recounts the story of the almost 1,200 Japanese medical students who rushed to German universities to learn cutting-edge knowledge from the world leaders in medicine, and of the dozen German physicians who were invited to Japan to transform the country's medical institutions and education. Shifting fluently between German, English, and Japanese sources, Kim's book uses the colourful lives of these men to examine the impact of German medicine in Japan from its arrival to the pinnacle of its influence and its abrupt but temporary collapse at the outbreak of the First World War. Transnational history at its finest, Doctors of Empire not only illuminates the German origins of modern medical science in Japan but also reinterprets the nature of German imperialism in East Asia.
The themes of this volume are concerned with archaeological, historical, linguistic, anthropological, geographical and other investigations across the vast area (and different regions) through which the Argonauts travelled in seeking to return from Colchis: from the eastern shore of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube to the Adriatic. The contributions investigate an extended time period, from Greek colonisation to the end of Antiquity, and different cultural influences involving peoples and states, Greek cities, native peoples, Roman rule and events in Late Roman times. Each particular study contributes to the ground research, helping to create a complete picture of the theoretical level of cultural and political development and interaction of different cultures. The research and general conclusions concerning the social, ethnic, cultural and political development of the peoples who lived around the Black Sea shore and along the great Danube and Sava rivers can be reliable only if based on the detailed study of particular questions related to the extensive area stretching from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, and involving the many different peoples and epochs which lasted many hundreds of years.
From Hispalis to Ishbiliyya: The ancient port of Seville, from the Roman Empire to the end of the Islamic period (45 BC - AD 1248) focuses on the history and development of the ancient port of Seville, which is located in the lower Guadalquivir River Basin, Spain. This unique study is important because, despite its commercial importance, little has been known about the port, and so the purpose was to examine the topography, layout, and facilities of the ancient port of Seville, their history and development from approximately the 1st c. BC to about the 13th c. AD. This longue duree study was conducted adopting a holistic and interdisciplinary approach by examining a diverse range of information (historical, archaeological and scientific), a maritime archaeological perspective as well as a diachronic study of three different historical periods (Roman, Late Antique, Islamic). As a result, it has been possible to offer a description of the construction, development, and demise of the port. The study was one of the first comprehensive studies of an ancient port in Spain and one of the first to be conducted in a combined holistic and diachronic manner in Europe. This methodology has produced significant results not obtained with other simpler approaches, thus serving as a model for studies of other archaeological sites, especially those in relation with maritime or riverine culture.
The volume offers a mixture of literary texts (including a commentary on Anacreon) and other documents.
The frontiers of the Roman empire together form the largest monument of one of the world's greatest states. They stretch for some 7,500km through 20 countries which encircle the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of these frontiers have been studied by visitors and later by archaeologists for several centuries. Many of the inscriptions and sculpture, weapons, pottery and artefacts created and used by the soldiers and civilians who lived on the frontier can be seen in museums. Equally evocative of the lost might of Rome are the physical remains of the frontiers themselves. The aim of this series of books is not only to inform the interested visitor about the history of the frontiers but to act as a guidebook as well. The Roman military remains in North Africa are remarkable in their variety and in their state of preservation: they deserve to be better known. They include towers and forts, stretches of defensive lines of stone and earth with ditches broken by gates, and roads, sitting in the most amazing scenery. It is hoped that each reader of this book will enjoy learning more about North Africa's remarkable Roman inheritance.
Der griechische Geschichtsschreiber Herodot (5. Jh. v. Chr.) hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten aus einem Protohistoriker, der "zahllose Lugengeschichten" erzahlt (so noch Ciceros Diktum), uber einen geachteten, doch etwas naiven Vorlaufer des Thukydides zu einem der wichtigsten antiken Autoren uberhaupt entwickelt. Er geniesst daher zu Recht die Aufmerksamkeit von Forschern aus den unterschiedlichsten Disziplinen. Trotzdem sind viele Aspekte der Herodot-Forschung umstritten, und von einer verbindlichen Sichtweise uber den pater historiae, den "Vater der Geschichtsschreibung", scheint man weiter entfernt als jemals zuvor. Dieser Sammelband bildet das weite Spektrum moderner Perspektiven auf Herodot ab, ohne sich einer einzigen Forschungstendenz als Dogma zu verschreiben.
The current focus on the theme of authorship in Medieval and Early Modern studies reopens questions of poetic agency and intent. Bringing into conversation several kinds of scholarship on medieval authorship, the essays in Author, Reader, Book examine interrelated questions raised by the relationship between an author and a reader, the relationships between authors and their antecedents, and the ways in which authorship interacts with the physical presentation of texts in books.The broad chronological range within this volume reveals the persistence of literary concerns that remain consistent through different periods, languages, and cultural contexts. Theoretical reflections, case studies from a wide variety of languages, examinations of devotional literature from figures such as Bishop Reginald Pecock, and analyses of works that are more secular in focus, including some by Chaucer and Christine de Pizan, come together in this volume to transcend linguistic and disciplinary boundaries.
On January 29, 2005, the Oriental Institute celebrated the official public opening of the Haas and Schwartz Megiddo Gallery. This occasion marked the return of some of the most extraordinary artifacts ever excavated in the southern Levant to permanent public display. The Oriental Institute's prolific history of exploration in the region is testament to a long-standing scholarly passion for discovery and the pursuit of knowledge. This volume draws from the momentum generated by the opening of the Megiddo Gallery and presents a selection of highlights from the Institute's greater Israel collection.
This volume is intended as a tribute to the memory of the Sumerologist Jeremy Black, who died in 2004. The Sumerian phrase za-mi-zu dug-ga-am 'Your praise is sweet' is commonly addressed to a deity at the close of a work of Sumerian literature. The scope of the thirty contributions, from Sumerology to the nineteenth-century rediscovery of Mesopotamia, is testament to Jeremy's own wide-ranging interests and to his ability to forge scholarly connections and friendships among all who shared his interest in ancient Iraq.
The papers in this collection explore the medieval art, architecture, and archaeology of the city of Mainz and of the middle Rhine valley. They were delivered in 2003, at the first annual conference the Association held in Germany. The contributors embrace a wide range of subjects. Some consider the architecture and archaeology of the early medieval and Romanesque period, including the Carolingian monastery of Lorsch and the cathedrals of Mainz, Speyer, and Worms. Other authors look at high and late Gothic architecture in the region, such as the collegiate church at Oppenheim and the Wernerkapelle at Bacherach. There are, moreover, papers on castle architecture, sculpture, panel painting, liturgical furnishings, and medieval inscriptions. At the centre of discussion stand questions of cult, patronage, iconography, and style. New light is shed particularly on the relationship between the art and architecture in the Rhine valley and France. This collection brings together British, German, and French scholars to discuss the art and architecture of this major centre of artistic creation in medieval Europe and will hopefully be of lasting value to scholarship. |
You may like...
Early Medieval Militarisation
Ellora Bennett, Guido M Berndt, …
Paperback
R705
Discovery Miles 7 050
Roman Theatres - An Architectural Study
Frank Sear
Hardcover
|