The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World: Volume 1, From the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic Age

An in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world in the third millennium BCE to the fourth century BCE.

Michele Renee Salzman (Edited by), Marvin A. Sweeney (Edited by)

9781108703130, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 December 2018

464 pages, 26 b/w illus. 2 tables
23 x 15.3 x 2.4 cm, 0.56 kg

The Cambridge History of Religions in the Ancient World provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the religions of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The fourteen essays in Volume 1 begin in the third millennium BCE with the Sumerians and extend to the fourth century BCE through the fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire and the demise of Alexander the Great. Its contributors, all acknowledged experts in their fields, analyze a wide spectrum of textual and material evidence. An introductory essay by the General Editor sets out the central questions, themes and historical trends considered in Volumes 1 and 2. Marvin A. Sweeney provides an introduction to the chapters of Volume 1. The regional and historical orientations of the essays will enable readers to see how a religious tradition or movement assumed a distinctive local identity, even as they view its development within a comparative framework. Supplemented with maps, illustrations and detailed indexes, the volume is an excellent reference tool for scholars of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world.

Introduction to Volumes 1 and 2 Michele Renee Salzman
Introduction to Volume 1 Marvin A. Sweeney
Part I. Mesopotamia and the Near East: 1. Sumerian religion Graham Cunningham
2. Assyrian and Babylonian religions Tammi J. Schneider
3. Hittite religion Gary Beckman
4. Zoroastrianism P. Oktor Skaervo
5. Syro-Canaanite religions: a construct of metaphors David Wright
6. Ancient Israelite and Judean religions Marvin A. Sweeney
Part II. Egypt and North Africa: 7. Egyptian religion Denise M. Doxey
8. Phoenician and Punic religion Philip C. Schmitz
Part III. Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean: 9. Minoan religion Nanno Marinatos
10. Mycenaean religion Ian Rutherford
11. Religion in the Greek world, c.750–400 BCE Emily Kearns
Part IV. The Western Mediterranean and Europe: 12. Etruscan religion Nancy T. de Grummond
13. Archaic Roman religion through the Early Republic Jörg Rüpke
14. Celtic religion in western and central Europe Dorothy Watts
Suggestions for further reading.

Subject Areas: Christian Churches & denominations [HRCC], History of religion [HRAX], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]