Aniconism in Greek Antiquity

Aniconism in Greek Antiquity PDF Author: Milette Gaifman
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780199645787
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Gaifman explores the phenomenon aniconism - the adoption of aniconic monuments, objects such as pillars and poles, to designate the presence of the divine. Shifting our attention from the well-known territories of Greek anthropomorphism and naturalism, it casts new light on the realm of non-figural objects in Greek religious art.

Aniconism in Greek Antiquity

Aniconism in Greek Antiquity PDF Author: Milette Gaifman
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780199645787
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Gaifman explores the phenomenon aniconism - the adoption of aniconic monuments, objects such as pillars and poles, to designate the presence of the divine. Shifting our attention from the well-known territories of Greek anthropomorphism and naturalism, it casts new light on the realm of non-figural objects in Greek religious art.

Divine Images and Human Imaginations in Ancient Greece and Rome

Divine Images and Human Imaginations in Ancient Greece and Rome PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047441656
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
The polytheistic religious systems of ancient Greece and Rome reveal an imaginative attitude towards the construction of the divine. One of the most important instruments in this process was certainly the visualisation. Images of the gods transformed the divine world into a visually experienceable entity, comprehensible even without a theoretical or theological superstructure. For the illiterates, images were together with oral traditions and rituals the only possibility to approach the idea of the divine; for the intellectuals, images of the gods could be allegorically transcended symbols to reflect upon. Based on the art historical and textual evidence, this volume offers a fresh view on the historical, literary, and artistic significance of divine images as powerful visual media of religious and intellectual communication.

Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World

Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World PDF Author: Michael Shenkar
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004281495
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
Winner of the the Roman and Tania Ghirshman Prize 2015 by the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. This prize was established in 1973 by the donation made by Roman Ghirshman, one of the prominent French archaeologists of Pre-Islamic Iran. It is awarded annually for a publication in the field of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies. In Intangible Spirits and Graven Images, Michael Shenkar investigates the perception of ancient Iranian deities and their representation in the Iranian cults. This ground-breaking study traces the evolution of the images of these deities, analyses the origin of their iconography, and evaluates their significance. Shenkar also explores the perception of anthropomorphism and aniconism in ancient Iranian religious imagery, with reference to the material evidence and the written sources, and reassesses the value of the Avestan and Middle Persian texts that are traditionally employed to illuminate Iranian religious imagery. In doing so, this book provides important new insights into the religion and culture of ancient Iran prior to the Islamic conquest.

Empires of Faith in Late Antiquity

Empires of Faith in Late Antiquity PDF Author: Jaś Elsner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108473075
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 533

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Book Description
Explores the problems for studying art and religion in Eurasia arising from ancestral, colonial and post-colonial biases in historiography.

Galla Placidia

Galla Placidia PDF Author: Hagith Sivan
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0195379128
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
Wedding in Gaul (414) -- Funerals in Barcelona (414-416) -- Making of an empress (417-425) -- Restoration and rehabilitation (425-431) -- Bride, a book, and a pope (437-438) -- Between Rome and Ravenna (438-450).

The Sense of Sight in Rabbinic Culture

The Sense of Sight in Rabbinic Culture PDF Author: Rachel Neis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107032512
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
This book explores the power of sight for ancient rabbis across the realms of divinity, sexuality, idolatry and rabbinic subjectivity.

Exploring Aniconism

Exploring Aniconism PDF Author: Mikael Aktor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000682978
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
This book explores the phenomenon of aniconism—the denotation of the presence of gods, saints, or spiritual forces using non-figural visual markers that do not resemble these supranatural entities. The contributors show how various types of aniconism differ in how they mediate divine presence and relate to other modes of representation. Aniconism is rarely absolute; each aniconic form needs to be considered within a spectrum of visual modes ranging from the abstract to the anthropomorphic. The chapters examine aniconism in paleolithic cultures; in ancient Egypt, Israel, and Greece; in early Christianity and Islam; in medieval and contemporary Hinduism; and in 17th–19th century Scottish-Gaelic contexts. The volume also provides a critical historiography of ‘aniconism’ as an academic concept, a new fine-tuned terminology, and some general characteristics of aniconic expressions in the context of the broader field of material religion. Offering a multi-faceted discussion of this important category of religious material culture, this book will be of interest to those with an interest in aniconism, as well as those involved in the wider study of how religion intersects with art and anthropology. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Religion journal.

Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity

Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004438084
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
Matthew V. Novenson, ed., Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity is a collection of state-of-the-art essays by leading scholars on views of God, Christ, and other divine beings in ancient Jewish, Christian, and classical texts.

Phoenician Aniconism in Its Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern Contexts

Phoenician Aniconism in Its Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern Contexts PDF Author: Brian R. Doak
Publisher: SBL Press
ISBN: 0884140989
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
A close look at Phoenician religion The Hebrew Bible contains a prohibition against divine images (Exod 20:2-5a). Explanations for this command are legion, usually focusing on the unique status of Israel's deity within the context of the broader Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds. Doak explores whether or not Israel was truly alone in its severe stance against idols. This book focuses on one particular aspect of this iconographic context in Israel's Iron Age world: that of the Phoenicians. The question of whether Phoenicians employed aniconic (as opposed to iconic) representational techniques has significance not only for the many poorly understood aspects of Phoenician religion generally, but also for the question of whether aniconism can be considered a broader trend among the Semitic populations of the ancient Near East. Features: More than fifty images and illustrations Examination of textual and archaeological evidence Application of art historical methods

The Image and Its Prohibition in Jewish Antiquity

The Image and Its Prohibition in Jewish Antiquity PDF Author: Sarah Pearce
Publisher: Journal of Jewish Studies
ISBN: 9780957522800
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Against the commonly held opinion that ancient Judaism was an artless culture, this sumptuously illustrated book offers new ways of looking at art in Jewish antiquity. Leading experts, under the editorship of Sarah Pearce, skilfully explore different functions of images in relation to their prohibition by the Second of the Ten Commandments. The visual world of ancient Judaism often reflects a tense confrontation between Mediterranean, artful classical culture and the image-filled, yet law-inspired biblical literature. Readers will encounter a rich collection of objects and texts analysed in different contexts, from Solomon's Temple to late antiquity. The imageless God of monotheistic Judaism combated the polytheistic cults of Israel's neighbours with the use of symbols. Figurative, floral and geometrical embellishments of synagogues served as decoration and not for worship. Narrative biblical scenes in the Dura-Europos synagogue played an educational and political role in Jewish society on the outskirts of the Roman Empire. Antique Jewish art exercised a profound influence on medieval Islam and even on the modern Western visual world. This book is aimed at both the scholarly world and all readers interested in religion and art.