Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds PDF Author: Ann Elizabeth Farkas
Publisher: Philipp Von Zabern
ISBN:
Category : Animals, Mythical
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description

Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds PDF Author: Ann Elizabeth Farkas
Publisher: Philipp Von Zabern
ISBN:
Category : Animals, Mythical
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description


Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds PDF Author: Ann Elizabeth Farkas
Publisher: Philipp Von Zabern
ISBN:
Category : Animals, Mythical
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description


The Ovary of Eve

The Ovary of Eve PDF Author: Clara Pinto-Correia
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226669505
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
The Ovary of Eve is a rich and often hilarious account of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century efforts to understand conception. In these early years of the Scientific Revolution, the most intelligent men and women of the day struggled to come to terms with the origins of new life, and one theory—preformation—sparked an intensely heated debate that continued for over a hundred years. Clara Pinto-Correia traces the history of this much maligned theory through the cultural capitals of Europe. "The most wonderfully eye-opening, or imagination-opening book, as amusing as it is instructive."—Mary Warnock, London Observer "[A] fascinating and often humorous study of a reproductive theory that flourished from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century."—Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education "More than just a good story, The Ovary of Eve is an object lesson about the history of science: Don't trust it. . . . Pinto-Correia says she wants to tell the story of history's losers. In doing so, she makes defeat sound more appealing than victory."—Emily Eakin, Nation. "A sparkling history of preformation as it once affected every facet of European culture."—Robert Taylor, Boston Globe

The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth

The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth PDF Author: Debbie Felton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192650459
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth presents forty chapters about the unique and terrifying creatures from myths of the long-ago Near East and Mediterranean world, featuring authoritative contributions by many of the top international experts on ancient monsters and the monstrous. The first part provides original studies of individual monsters such as the Chimaera, Cerberus, the Hydra, and the Minotaur, and of monster groups such as dragons, centaurs, sirens, and Cyclopes. This section also explores their encounters with the major heroes of classical myth, including Perseus, Jason, Heracles, and Odysseus. The second part examines monsters of ancient folklore and ethnography, encompassing the restless dead, blood-drinking lamiae, exotic hybrid animals, the so-called dog-headed men, and many other unexpected creatures and peoples. The third part covers various interpretations of these creatures from multiple perspectives, including psychoanalysis, colonialism, and disability studies, with monster theory itself evident across the entire volume. The final part discusses reception of these ancient monsters across time and space--from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to modern times, from Persia to Scandinavia, the Caribbean, and Latin America-and concludes with chapters considering the use and adaptation of ancient monsters in children's literature, science fiction, fantasy, and modern scientific disciplines. This Handbook is the first large-scale, inclusive guide to monsters in antiquity, their places in literature and art across the millennia, and their influence on later literature and thought.

The Dragon in the West

The Dragon in the West PDF Author: Daniel Ogden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192565877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
An exploration of how the image and idea of the dragon has evolved through history How did the dragon get its wings? Everyone in the modern West has a clear idea of what a dragon looks like and of the sorts of stories it inhabits, not least devotees of the fantasies of J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and George R. R. Martin. A cross between a snake and some fearsome mammal, often sporting colossal wings, they live in caves, lie on treasure, maraud, and breathe fire. They are extraordinarily powerful, but even so, ultimately defeated in their battles with humans. What is the origin of this creature? The Dragon in the West is the first serious and substantial account in any language of the evolution of the modern dragon from its ancient forebears. Daniel Ogden's detailed exploration begins with the drakōn of Greek myth and the draco of the dragon-loving Romans, and a look at the ancient world's female dragons. It brings the story forwards though Christian writings, medieval illustrated manuscripts, and the lives of dragon-duelling saints, before concluding with a study of dragons found in the medieval Germanic world, including those of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and the Norse sagas.

Mesopotamian Protective Spirits

Mesopotamian Protective Spirits PDF Author: Wiggerman
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004676554
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Wiggerman's study of Mesopotamian monsters bridges the gap between text and image. Wooden and clay figures of monstrous spirits such as Hairy-One (lahmu), Bison-Bull (kusarikku), and Furious-Snake (mushussu) stand guard at the entrances to buildings to protect the inhavitants from demonic intruders. Deriving his information from the ritual texts that describe the production and installation of these figures, the author identifies the monsters of the texts with objects from the archaeological record and presents a detailed discussion of the identities and histories of a variety of Mesopotamian monsters.

Aspekte des Menschseins im Alten Mesopotamien

Aspekte des Menschseins im Alten Mesopotamien PDF Author: Ulrike Steinert
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004226141
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 644

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Book Description
Being the first monographic study of this kind in the field of Assyriology, this book comprises an investigation of Ancient Mesopotamian concepts of the human person. Concentrating on Akkadian cuneiform texts from the 2nd and 1st millennium BC, the author examines the characteristics and attributes attached to human beings and the notions of the person as a composite being through a semantic analysis of Akkadian terms for the body, body parts and aspects of the self, which can be termed "souls". Through an examination of a wide range of textual sources and an interdisciplinary approach, this study shows that the Mesopotamian views of personhood share amazing similarities with those of the neighbouring ancient cultures, but often differ from our own. “...in short, as a piece of modern Assyriological scholarship it is very well done and a tribute to its author’s capabilities and accomplishments.” Benjamin R. Foster, Yale University

BMH as Body Language

BMH as Body Language PDF Author: W. Boyd Barrick
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0567473511
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
It is customarily assumed that the Hebrew word BMH denotes a "high place," first a topographical elevation and derivatively a cult place elevated either by location or construction. This book offers a fresh, systematic, and comprehensive examination of the word in those biblical and post-biblical passages where it supposedly carries its primary topographical sense. Although the word is used in this way in only a handful of its attestations, they are sufficiently numerous and contextually diverse to yield sound systematic, rather than ad hoc, conclusions as to its semantic content. Special attention is paid to its likely Semitic and unlikely Greek cognates, pertinent literary, compositional, and text-critical matters, and the ideological and iconographical ambiance of each occurrence. This study concludes that the non-cultic word BMH is actually *bomet, carrying primarily (if not always) an anatomical sense approximate to English "back," sometimes expanded to the "body" itself. The phrase bmty->rs (Amos 4:13, Micah 1:3, and CAT 1.4 VII 34; also Deut. 32:13a, Isa. 58:14ab-ba, and Sir. 46:9b) derives from the international mythic imagery of the Storm-God: it refers originally to the "mythological mountains," conceptualized anthropomorphically, which the god surmounts in theophany, symbolically expressing his cosmic victory and sovereignty. There is no instance where this word (even 2 Sam. 1:19a and 1:25b) is unequivocally a topographical reference. The implications of these findings for identifying the bamah-sanctuary are briefly considered.

The Egyptian God Tutu

The Egyptian God Tutu PDF Author: Olaf E. Kaper
Publisher: Peeters Publishers
ISBN: 9789042912175
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Tutu (Tithoes) was a popular god in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history, with his origins in the earlier Egyptian religious tradition. The god provided protection against demons, and his appearance as a striding sphinx was often combined with symbols of his power and visual references to demons and other divinities. The god Tutu demonstrates the continuing vitality of the pharaonic religion under the pressure of foreign cultures and ideas. This monograph provides the first comprehensive study of the god Tutu. It is based upon a collection of attestations, largely unpublished, which derive from monuments in various parts of Egypt and from museum collections all over the world. Moreover, the results of recent archaeological field work in Shenhur and in the temple of Tutu in the Dakhla Oasis have been included in full. The catalogue of monuments is accompanied by an analysis of the god Tutu, his iconography and his place in the Egyptian religion.

Early Christians and Their Art

Early Christians and Their Art PDF Author: Mikeal C. Parsons
Publisher: SBL Press
ISBN: 1628373598
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
This collection of eleven essays by biblical scholars, art historians, and experts in early Christianity explores a variety of topics and issues regarding the material culture of early Christianity recovered from Italy, Syria, Tunisia, and beyond. The essays place early Christian art representing such symbols as crosses, anchors, and shepherds found in sarcophagi, catacombs, architecture, mosaics, gems, and more in dialogue with New Testament and early Christian texts. Contributors Gregory M. Barnhill, Eric J. Brewer, Jeffrey M. Dale,† Zen Hess, Heidi J. Hornik, Jeffrey M. Hubbard, Robin M. Jensen, Bruce W. Longenecker, Mikeal Parsons, Christian Sanchez, Natalie Webb, Jason A. Whitlark, and David E. Wilhite place early Christian beliefs and practices in their proper historical, cultural, political, and religious contexts for scholars and students of the ancient world.