Download or read book Ritual Practice Between the Late Bronze Age and Protogeometric Periods of Greece written by Gemma Marakas and published by British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited. This book was released on 2010 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study Gemma Marakas explores continuities in ritual practice from the Mycenaean culture through the Bronze Age collapse to the development of city states in the Protogeometric period. For reasons of space funerary rites are excluded from the study, which instead compiles, and analyses a gazetteer of shrine sites across mainland Greece.
Download or read book Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece written by Dennis D. Hughes and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this, the first book length study of the subject for 75 years, the author provides a fascinating examination of archaeological and written evidence for the ritual killing of human beings in ancient Greece.
Download or read book Bones Behaviour and Belief written by Gunnel Ekroth and published by Paul Astroms. This book was released on 2013 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The importance of the zooarchaeological evidence as a source for ritual practices in ancient Greece is gradually becoming widely recognized. Animal bones form the only category of evidence for Greek cult which is constantly significantly increasing, and they can complement and elucidate the information provided by texts, inscriptions and images. This volume brings together sixteen contributions exploring ritual practices and animal bones from different chronological and geographical perspectives, foremost ancient Greece in the historical period, but also in the Bronze Age and as early as the Neolithic period, as well as Anatolia, France and Scandinavia, providing new empirical evidence from a number of major sanctuaries and cult-places. On a methodological level, the complexity of identifying ritual activity from the zooarchaeological evidence is a recurrent theme, as is the prominence of local variation visible in the bone material, suggesting that the written sources and iconography may offer simplified or idealized versions of the rituals actually performed. Although zooarchaeology needs to and should be integrated with other kinds of sources, the independent study of the bones in an unbiased manner is of utmost importance, as the bones can provide a different "reality" than that encountered in our other sources."--Publisher's website.
Download or read book Ritual and Archaic States written by Murphy, Joanne M and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2016-08-24 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While ritual and archaic states have both been prominent topics in recent archaeological studies, this is the first volume to combine both subjects by exploring the varying nature, expression, and significance of ritual in archaic states. It compares archaic rituals across many different cultures--Vijayanagara, Swahili Lamu, Venice, Asante, Aztec, Ming China, Oaxaca, Greece, Inca, Wari, and Chaco. The contributors posit that the nature of rituals, the level of investment in rituals, and their sociopolitical significance can vary greatly from state to state, even among societies with similar levels of social complexity, population, and spatial distribution. Highlighting the importance of ritual as an inherent part of a cultural narrative, and demonstrating how the study of ritual enables a better understanding of diverse social groups, this volume shows how the location, frequency, and role of ritual differed significantly across archaic states.
Download or read book Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives written by David Brooks Dodd and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An international group of experts in Greek religion and society challenge the privileged status of initiation as a paradigm in classical studies.
Download or read book Processions Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B Koehl written by Judith Weingarten and published by Archaeopress Archaeology. This book was released on 2023-10-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Koehl has long considered processions to have played an integral role in Aegean Bronze Age societies. Therefore, when assembling a volume to honor his retirement from Hunter College, contributing authors were asked to focus attention on this subject. Processions are a unique social phenomenon in that they engage large groups with a singular purpose or outcome, acting as a cohesive force in societies. Yet they are elusive both in Aegean art and texts, which has challenged the participants in this volume to approach the subject from various viewpoints, providing evidence of ritual and ceremonial places, pathways and practices, based on archaeological and, in one instance, textual evidence. Artistic depictions in a variety of media provide a means of identifying settings, participants and the possible roles they play, while specific ritual objects are the subject of some contributions, their context and imagery offering another means of enhancing our picture of processions. Papers concentrate mainly on evidence from Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland, with additional perspectives from abroad, these geographic divisions forming the basic outline of the volume.
Download or read book Ritual Architecture Iconography and Practice in the Late Cypriot Bronze Age written by Jennifer M. Webb and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Politics of Ritual Change written by John Tracy Thames, Jr. and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-07-27 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Politics of Ritual Change, John Thames explores the intersection of ritual and politics in the zukru festival texts from Emar and suggests a new understanding of the Hittite Empire’s relationship to northern Syria in the 13th century BCE.
Download or read book Rituals Collapse and Radical Transformation in Archaic States written by Joanne M.A. Murphy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States explores the role of ritual in a variety of archaic states and generates discussion on how the decline in a state’s ability to continue in its current form affected the practices of ritual and how ritual as a culture-forming dynamic affected decline, collapse, and regeneration of the state. Chapters examine ritual in collapsing and regenerating archaic states from diverse locations, time periods, and societies including Crete, Mycenean and Byzantine Greece, Mesopotamia, India, Africa, Mexico, and Peru. Underscoring similarities in a variety of archaic states in the role of ritual during periods of threat, collapse, and transformation, the volume shows how ritual can be used as a stabilizing or divisive force or a connecting medium between the present to the past in an empowering way. It also highlights the diversity of ritual roles and location in similar situations and illustrates how states in close proximity and sharing many cultural similarities can respond differently through ritual to stress and contrast the different response in rural and urban settings. Through detailed, cultural specific studies, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the diverse roles of ritual in the decline, collapse, and regeneration of societies and will be important for all archaeologists involved in the important notions of state "collapse" and "regeneration".
Download or read book Ritual and Communication in the Graeco Roman World written by Collectif and published by Presses universitaires de Liège. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The analysis of the dynamic nature of rituals has become a heuristic tool for the investigation not only of religious behaviour and beliefs, but also for the study of social practice and communication in ancient and modern societies. From public assembly gatherings and funerals to celebration of cult feasts or the honouring of individuals, rituals mark socially important occasions, define beginnings and endings, and aid social transitions. Thus, rituals carry all kinds of messages intended to support and express the performance of those involved, and to create the desired results. The present volume brings together a collection of articles on rituals in the Graeco-Roman world, focussing on the interconnection between ritual as a means of communication and communication as a ritual phenomenon. In regarding rituals as an interface in the realm of cultural practices, the contributors demonstrate the manifold function of ritual communication in the life of ancient communities.
Download or read book Feasting and Polis Institutions written by Floris van den Eijnde and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-05-07 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring a wide array of commensal practices, Feasting and Polis Institutions shows how feasts defined religious and political institutions in the Greek polis from the Early Iron Age to the Imperial Period.
Download or read book Processions Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B Koehl written by and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Koehl has long considered processions to have played an integral role in Aegean Bronze Age societies. Therefore, when assembling a volume to honor his retirement from Hunter College, contributing authors were asked to focus attention on this subject. Processions are a unique social phenomenon in that they engage large groups with a singular purpose or outcome, acting as a cohesive force in societies. Yet they are elusive both in Aegean art and texts, which has challenged the participants in this volume to approach the subject from various viewpoints, providing evidence of ritual and ceremonial places, pathways and practices, based on archaeological and, in one instance, textual evidence. Artistic depictions in a variety of media provide a means of identifying settings, participants and the possible roles they play, while specific ritual objects are the subject of some contributions, their context and imagery offering another means of enhancing our picture of processions. Papers concentrate mainly on evidence from Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland, with additional perspectives from abroad, these geographic divisions forming the basic outline of the volume.
Download or read book Around the Hearth written by Jérémy Lamaze and published by de Gruyter. This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Ancient Greece many aspects of human life centered around the fireside. From functional activities to social events and ritual practices, hearths in indoor contexts played a key role in creating human bonds and in structuring society. The aim of
Download or read book Piety Practice and Politics written by Dana Douglas DePietro and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Striking changes in the archaeological record of the southern Levant during the final years of the Late Bronze Age have long fascinated scholars interested in the region and period. Attempts to explain the emergence of new forms of Canaanite material culture have typically cited external factors such as Egyptian political domination as the driving force behind culture change, relying on theoretical models of acculturation, elite-emulation and center-periphery theory. While these approaches can be useful in explaining some dimensions of culture-contact, they are limited by their assumption of a unidirectional flow of power and influence from dominant core societies to passive peripheries. As a result, they are unable to adequately explain the wide variety of complex interactions and changes that characterize the archaeological record of the LB IIB southern Levant. In this dissertation I argue for a new approach to the region and period, one that recognizes the equally important role of the individual in dictating the terms of cross-cultural interaction, as well as the recursive relationship between those individuals and the social structures within which they operate. I hypothesize that instead of simply emulating or adapting to foreign powers, a process of cultural entanglement took place between the Levant and its neighbors. This process resulted in new hybridizing practices emerged and existed in constant state of renegotiation, with participants actively choosing specific cultural elements to adopt, maintain and transform altogether. To investigate this, I argue that ritual activity is ideally suited to assess such processes, given that it engages with the realm of ideas, making them manifest through practice and accessible through the archaeological record. Incorporating new archaeological evidence from the southern Levant, I evaluate change and continuity within three distinct, yet complimentary lines of evidence relating to ritual activity in the LB IIB: temples and their assemblages, mortuary traditions, and Canaanite "bowl-lamp" deposits. By evaluating change and continuity over time, each case study examines how identity and relationships of power were facilitated, enforced and negotiated through ritual activity at both local and regional levels. Abandoning traditional morphological typologies, the results of this contextual study show a remarkable degree of uniformity in ritual practice across the LB IIB southern Levant. I conclude that these overlapping patterns of practice suggest shared emic notions of what specific forms of ritual practice entail, indicating a higher level of cultural cohesion during the period than has been previously assumed. At the same time, the study shows that degrees of local variation in each ritual practice exist as well. This combination of regional patterning and local variation indicates that while a general process of Canaanite cultural coalescence was taking place during the LB IIB, it played out differently in various locales according to local interests. The evidence therefore indicates that this process, along with the emergence of new and unattested ritual practices, is the product of both local agency and the structural conditions within which it operates.
Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World written by Diana Stein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-31 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For millennia, people have universally engaged in ecstatic experience as an essential element in ritual practice, spiritual belief and cultural identification. This volume offers the first systematic investigation of its myriad roles and manifestations in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. The twenty-nine contributors represent a broad range of scholarly disciplines, seeking answers to fundamental questions regarding the patterns and commonalities of this vital aspect of the past. How was the experience construed and by what means was it achieved? Who was involved? Where and when were rites carried out? How was it reflected in pictorial arts and written records? What was its relation to other components of the sociocultural compact? In proposing responses, the authors draw upon a wealth of original research in many fields, generating new perspectives and thought-provoking, often surprising, conclusions. With their abundant cross-cultural and cross-temporal references, the chapters mutually enrich each other and collectively deepen our understanding of ecstatic phenomena thousands of years ago. Another noteworthy feature of the book is its illustrative content, including commissioned reconstructions of ecstatic scenarios and pairings of works of Bronze Age and modern psychedelic art. Scholars, students and other readers interested in antiquity, comparative religion and the social and cognitive sciences will find much to explore in the fascinating realm of ecstatic experience in the ancient world.
Download or read book Early Greek Cult Practice written by Robin Hägg and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic written by Ralph Merrifield and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like all human activities, ritual customs, intended to gain advantage or avert disaster by supernatural means, have left their mark on the archaeological record. Yet archaeologists are often reluctant to recognize evidence of behavior that has no obvious material purpose. Even where they realize that something unusual has occurred, they will put forward every other possible explanation in terms of accident or functional utility, however improbable. For the first time, Ralph Merrifield systematically looks at the evidence for European ritual from prehistoric times to the present day. In examining different kinds of ritual, superstition and magic whether animal sacrifice, offerings to earth and water, spells and charms, or antidotes to witchcraft he shows how common patterns of activity have continued with little alteration over the centuries. Through fundamental changes of religious belief from primitive animism to developed paganism, from paganism to Christianity, from traditional Catholicism to Protestantism, and even from religious faith to scientific rationalism the same kinds of simple ritual have survived to give comfort and a sense of security. Profusely illustrated, this provocative and readable study will not only be required reading for archaeologists at all levels, but will also appeal to all those interested in folklore and the oddities of human behavior."
