Hellenistic Times Research Articles

The Lyceum in Twilight: Athens’ “Second School” and its Struggle to Re-Invent Itself and Survive in the Last Years of the Roman Republic

After the Athenian crisis of the early 80’s, which saw the ancient city held hostage between an Anatolian military expedition (whose leader at least claimed some intellectual credentials from Athenian schools including the Lyceum) and a renegade Roman with only the most cynical interest in heritage or culture, the schools of Athens – in particular the “peripatetic” school which dated back to Aristotle – faced challenges of identity, recruiting students, and in holding its own, perhaps too “peripatetic,” faculty. In early post-classical and Hellenistic times the second and third generation Lyceum had been successful, even when it had lost intellectual “stars” like Theophrastus, and (worse) its original library, to rivals like Pergamum – but as the other schools attracted career-minded students from the west, Aristotle’s foundation of a broad-minded liberal arts approach to learning in the Lyceum grove was in danger. The Lyceum seems actually to have failed for a time, or at least to have limped through the middle first century with faculty borrowed from the Akademe, in spite of a reputation for teaching practical politics which neither the Epicureans nor the Stoics could substitute for very well. Experts of the Aristotelian sort found either too-attractive employment in an Italy closer to the centers of power, or too strong a lure toward traveling consulting positions with neophyte Romans trying to learn the eastern Mediterranean “on their jobs.” At its Athenian home, it moved a significant part of its teaching into the city and melded it into the ephebeia or “civic school” for young Athenian citizens (but in the new Athens, those included a more and more multi-cultural mix of foreign youth as the Republic’s business class and students arrived in town). And then, it also attracted those in retirement from the turmoil of the disintegrating Republic, who valued the Lyceum more as a refuge than as a provider of power-skills for “players,” the sort of thing the Akademe or the Epicurean ‘Garden’ did. The solution itself endangered Aristotle’s idea for the school. As the Republic died, the “Peripatetic” school’s greatest teachers were more often on the road with its “players” than home. What it kept at its home, though, it re-invested in the educational life of its own city. The Lyceum, like the Stoa, found its new Athenian home “downtown” in more ways than one, and faced challenges quite familiar both in modern “peripatetic” and in “career-direct” higher education.

ПЕРГАМОН І СХІДНЕ ПРИЧОРНОМОР’Я (ГОНІО-АПСАРОС)

Pergamon has been known as one of the major centers of ceramic production since Hellenistic times. It falls first to the Roman Empire after the defeat of Pontus, and after the defeat of Mithridates VI Eupator. It was one of the important centers that supplied troops of imported pottery, such as red-lacquered pottery and powder, to soldiers stationed in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, in the northern regions of Asia Minor, and in Roman fortress cities in the Caucasus.

Major Prophets

Major Prophets Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, Fred W. Guyette, William J. Urbrock, and Brian J. Meldrum Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary William J. Urbrock University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Brian J. Meldrum Catholic University of America 596. [Prophetic Texts from the Hellenistic Period?] Hervé Gonzalez, "No Prophetic Texts from the Hellenistic Period: Philological and Historical Observations on the Writing of Prophecy in Early Hellenistic Judea," Times of Transition, 293-340 [see #787]. G. contends in this essay that certain textual units in the corpus of late prophets date from the Hellenistic period. In his opinion, the general view that the prophetic corpus had been completed already in Persian times assumes a clear-cut distinction between the time when a given book was composed and its subsequent transmission. G., for his part, adduces various methodological, philological, and historical arguments to challenge this assumption. In particular, the ancient manuscript witnesses (the DSS and the OG and OL translations) show that the prophetic figures remained fluid until late in the Hellenistic period—if not right up to the very end of the Second Temple period. Against this background, G. therefore claims that we cannot rule out the possibility that certain textual units were in fact composed in the late 4th or the 3rd cent. b.c.e. Admittedly, the prophetic books contain few—if any—explicit allusions to the Hellenistic period, but this may be the result of the compositional techniques used in accordance with which the prophetic books were revised and expanded in early Hellenistic times, via use of terms and motifs borrowed from other segments in those same texts, or other corpora, primarily the Pentateuch and the Psalms. This system of composition points in turn to the desire on the part of the late scribes in question to assert the continuity between the new sections and their textual context, thus maintaining the apparent antiquity of the prophetic traditions. Claims that prophets ceased to exist in Israel after Persian times, such those found in Zech 13:2-6 and Mal 3:22-24 arguably fulfilled a similar function. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 597. [The Orality of Writing Prophecy; Joel 1–2] Helmut Utzschneider, "Die Mündlichkeit der biblischen Schriftprophetie: Versuch einer Bestandaufnahme," Scribes as Sages and Prophets, 33-64 [see #792]. In his essay, U. makes reference to an element of David Carr's presentation of the tradition of ancient Israel in which Carr, affirming the perspective of the "new orality school," holds that the difference between oral and written transmission has been overestimated by past scholars. The scribes learned most of their literary texts by heart and could write them from memory. This recognition opens up the possibility of understanding prophetic texts as dramatic texts. U. illustrates the benefits of such an approach with an exegesis of Joel 1 and 2. [Adapted from editor's introduction—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 598. [Prophecy and Formation] Micha Brumlik, "Prophetie und Bildung," JBTh 35 (2020) 65-74. The Hebrew Bible does not know a term equivalent to the German word "Bildung." Nevertheless, it is possible to describe the contours of such formation precisely with regard to the prophets. Isaiah and Amos can be cited as examples. In the background of all this is the insight that Judaism is grounded in a living culture of teaching and learning. The "Shema Israel" is of special importance in this context. The order in Israel's declaration "We will do it and then listen" (Exod 24:3) is of groundbreaking significance for Jewish learning practice. This can also be seen as a Leitmotif from the prophetic ethics of action, [End Page 203] from which a prophetic understanding of "Bildung" can be derived. The rabbinical understanding of "Bildung" as an insight into the inevitability of one's own positionality represents a further development of this prophetic approach. See also ##548, 688, 699. [Adapted from published abstract—T.H.] Google Scholar 599. [Nature in OT Prophecy] Konrad Schmid, "Die Natur und ihre Ordnungen in der Prophetie," JBTh 34 (2019) 49...

The Book of Obadiah in the Septuagint

The Book of Obadiah, although short (it has only 21 verses; the shortest in the Hebrew Bible), is at the same time very difficult. The difficulties are manifested in its linguistic and textual layers, but above all in what concerns its content, theology and interpretation. The Greek translation of Obad contained in the LXX is particularly important because it represents a way of understanding the Book going back to pre-Christian, Hellenistic times, which strongly emphasised the theme of threats to Israel from other nations. In the Greek translation (LXXObad), the cursing character of the Book is radicalised and the guilt of the enemies (Edomites – Idumeans) is highlighted. The article presents the Book of Obadiah in its historical context (both the Hebrew original and the Greek version), and presents its text, content and character in the Septuagint version. It compares it with LXXJer 29 (LXX numbering) and shows how the challenging theology of the Book was understood among the Jews of Hellenistic Alexandria. The universalisation of the message of the Book by the LXX translation was later continued in its patristic and rabbinic interpretations.

Braziers and the Hellenistic koiné in the kitchen: the case of Paphos, capital of Cyprus

Portable braziers played a very important role in ancient kitchens. Stoves with a stand, fire bowl and three supports were very common in Middle and Late Hellenistic times (2nd century BCE and late 2nd century to 30 BCE, accordingly), but they do not seem to have been imported in large numbers to Cyprus. The paper discusses the finds from Cyprus, and from Paphos in particular, the island’s capital from the end of the 3rd century BCE, which is where most of the finds come from. The research entails a re-examination of the stoves from the House of Dionysos (original spelling after Hayes 1981) and the mostly unknown material from the University of Warsaw excavations in the Maloutena area. Fabrics were distinguished by macroscopic observation with the naked eye using a hand lens, identifying macroscopic groups (MG). Paphos is suggested as a potential place of production, as well as a major importer of stoves, an idea that should be clarified by future archaeometric analyses.

Marina el-Alamein as an Example of Painting Decoration of Main Spaces of Hellenistic-Roman Houses in Egypt

The article is based on the research conducted by the authors. The houses from the ancient town discovered in 1985 on the Mediterranean coast at the location of today’s Marina el-Alamein, are among the rare remains of Egyptian residential buildings from Hellenistic and Roman times. There are few remains of houses from this period in major cities, including the capital of Alexandria. The ancient town, which functioned under the influence of nearby Alexandria, developed from the second century BC to the sixth century AD. Various types of buildings, relatively well preserved here, provide information on a reduced scale about the architecture of Alexandria, as well as the lives of its inhabitants. This also applies in particular to residential houses, their décor and colours. The ancient town of Marina el-Alamein can be seen as demonstrating solutions that are more common. The present article aims to analyse the preserved remains of painting decoration in the main spaces of houses and attempts to reconstruct forms and the principles of their creation on the background of better-known solutions from other regions. Houses in Marina generally implemented layouts defined by flagstone-paved portico courtyards, sporadically taking the form of an incomplete peristyle, and reception halls oikos, which could be accompanied by smaller adjoining rooms. Both the columns and entablature with the cornices of the porticoes as well as the walls of the main rooms were painted. Wall decoration was organised by geometric partitions, filled in variously. The aedicula that served religious purposes, placed centrally in the rear walls of the main reception rooms, was also polychrome. The painted decoration can be reconstructed from the preserved remains, as rich and intensely colourful, similar to Hellenistic and Roman layouts from other regions, but differing in details.

Insights on Eastern Hellenistic Historical and Archaeological Material Culture of the Oikoumene: Globalisation and Local Socio-Cultural Identities

This paper focuses on the Hellenistic Middle East, especially the age of Ptolemaic Alexandrian and Syrian Seleucid influence. It investigates and clarifies some of the Hellenistic-age historical and archaeological material culture within the Hellenisation and globalisation conceptions. Furthermore, it suggests that by reviewing the context of the local socio-cultural identities in the Hellenistic Oikoumene, mainly based on the lingua franca about local identity and how the local identity was expressed on coinage during Hellenistic times, many related insights issues can be revealed. In addition, it also attempts to discuss and reveal aspects of the cultural sharing achievements in Hellenistic art, architecture, and urban built environment planning. Finally, how did Eastern Hellenistic cities manage to benefit from the process of Hellenistic globalisation and localisation/globalisation while minimising identity risks? The focus is on the transnational socio-cultural and economic area of Ptolemaic Alexandria, the centre of the post-Classical Greek world, and the Syrian Seleucid influence. As an investment, mass migration and the transfer of goods, culture, and ideas increasingly transformed these Middle Eastern cities and shaped their translocal culture conception, local socio-cultural identities, cultural sharing, art and architecture edifice forms, and spatial patterns in the Hellenistic period. One of the main contributions and significance of this study is to continue the dialogue of how non-Greek influence in Hellenistic times impacted an area that has been traditionally seen as unaffected or minimally affected by years under foreign rule. This also sheds new light on some Greco-Macedonian topics not sufficiently debated in the Oikoumene discussion dialogue. These two aspects would furthermore contribute to better understanding and accepting the neglected role of the contribution of non-Greek culture to Greek achievements, as well as how the local non-Greek customs of the indigenous peoples of the Ptolemy and Seleucid kingdoms would affect how they assimilated Greco-Macedonian practices, and how the vision of Alexander the Great and Hellenisation worked in the different territories of these two kingdoms.

Sara Saba, Isopoliteia in Hellenistic Times. (Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Vol. 14.) Leiden, Brill 2020

Article Sara Saba, Isopoliteia in Hellenistic Times. (Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy, Vol. 14.) Leiden, Brill 2020 was published on August 1, 2021 in the journal Historische Zeitschrift (volume 313, issue 1).

Roman Aqueducts in Crete, Greece: Learning from the Past

The Romans were well aware of the strategic importance of Crete and tried, by any means possible, its final conquest. The island was under Roman rule over four centuries (ca 67 BC–330 AD). Under Roman rule, Crete witnessed a growth of its population and prosperity and an increase in its connectivity with other parts of the Empire. In addition, Gortys, Chersonisos, Elyros, Lyttos, Kissamos and other cities flourished under their rule. At that prosperous time, several luxurious infrastructures, such as hydraulic works, were developed. In this paper, we wish to examine the principles and the technical characteristics of major aqueducts built at that time. They constructed impressive hydro-works, such as aqueducts, by using the knowledge gained from earlier Greek civilizations in Minoan and Classical and Hellenistic times. However, they mainly increased the scale of applied technologies to support the increased population water demand. Water is a common need of humankind and several ancient civilizations developed simple but practical techniques, such as the aqueduct, especially during Roman times. We can gain from their experience and knowledge to develop a sustainable water supply, presently and in the future, both in developed and developing countries.

Remains of Birds from the Northwest Black Sea Ancient Settlements

ABSTRACT The article presents the results of the identification of 1051 bird remains from the ancient layers of the 12 settlements from the Northern Black Sea coast. Zooarchaeological finds described in the work date to the sixth century BC through the fourth century AD. The data allowed researchers to specify features of bird exploitation by the inhabitants of the region. In particular, we established that, hunted birds dominated over domestic species in the diet of inhabitants of large settlements. However, previous publications on the results of mammalian studies suggested that hunting did not play a significant role, but was rather an entertainment. We also found that the inhabitants of small settlements consumed more poultry than wild species of birds. The earlier reports about the discovery of pheasant's remains in the ancient layers of the Northern Black Sea Coast were refuted. The report presents the bone of the chicken with osteopetrosis, which appears as the most eastern evidence of the disease in the archaeological records in Europe. Some changes were discovered in the avifauna. The primary changes took place during the Hellenistic time (350–200 BC), when the region experienced a reduction in species diversity. We assume that the changes in fauna are a consequence of the climatic shifts which took place in the Roman Warm Period.

Novellas for Diverting Jewish Urban Businessmen or Channels of Priestly Knowledge: Redefining Judean Short Stories of Hellenistic Times

The Jewish literary production of Hellenistic and early imperial times includes a substantial number of short narratives displaying novelistic features. Most of these texts are in Greek, with novelistic trends also appearing in Hebrew and Aramaic works (Esther, Daniel). While this stylistic shift is undeniable, the present article questions the social and cultural implications that a number of scholars seek to read into it. Because of their shared stylistic innovations, these works are often treated as a homogeneous group, regardless of whether or not they were eventually included in the biblical canon (the Septuagint), and contrasted with the traditional narrative genres represented in the Hebrew biblical corpus. The transition to the novelistic is further taken to indicate a shift in the social context in which these works were produced, and correlatively, in their social function. Thus, in contrast with the earlier narrative literature written by temple scribes, these early novels supposedly emerged in the urban environment, where they catered to the tastes of a wider segment of the Jewish population. Furthermore, it is alleged that like their Greek counterparts, the Jewish novels had no institutionalized social use but were performed or read purely for entertainment, explaining the prominent thematization of eroticism, chastity, and marriage.
 In contrast with this approach, it is argued that when it comes to works that were eventually canonized, the issue of the social environment in which they were produced and that of their social function need to be decoupled from style and tone. To bolster this stance, the discussion draws extensively on a comparison with the social context in which the contemporary Demotic literature was produced, which is archaeologically documented, and on a comparison with Demotic texts themselves in both form and content. As a starting point, it is noted that the model associating novelization and urbanization crystallized at a time when indigenous temples—not least the one in Jerusalem—were held as bastions of conservatism, and it was speculated that that Hellenization in Judea was promoted by new, secular elites. Since then, this assumption has been proven wrong. Both in Egypt and Judea, the indigenous elites who manned the royal administrations were fielded from among the local temple personnel, meaning that the temple literati were familiar with their own traditions and Greek literature alike.
 On this basis, it is argued that the novelization of the works was first and foremost a matter of the reception of Greek literature by temple literati. Given that most if not all the narrative texts were aimed for oral performance, those were eager to borrow any literary devices that would make the stories livelier. In terms of their social function, however, these novelized works were no different from pre-Hellenistic narrative genres. Like their Demotic counterparts, biblical narratives provided a tool for exploring virtually all the aspects of knowledge that were of interest to their authors and audience, including the nature of the relationship between human beings and deity, history, law, prophecy, political, social, and religious matters. Their diverting tone assisted in the inculcation knowledge. In this way, the reappraisal of the biblical narratives as serious literature proposed in this article goes much further than simply stressing their connections with sapiential literature.

The Dawn of Christianity: People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles by Robert Knapp

Reviewed by: The Dawn of Christianity: People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles by Robert Knapp Giovanni B. Bazzana Keywords Early Christianity, the Christ movement, polytheism, monotheism, Judaism, history of Christianity, the Mediterranean region robert knapp. The Dawn of Christianity: People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2017. Pp. xvi + 303. Robert Knapp boldly tackles an ambitious goal: describing the context and the emergence of the religious movement that will later be called "Christianity" in the period around the turn of the eras. Knapp sees the Christ movement as establishing a new relationship between humans and the supernatural realm. The ultimate goal of this book's analysis is to elucidate why and how, in a radically conservative context, people made such a change. This very readable book can be divided in two parts of roughly equal size. In the first half (Chapters 1 to 6) Knapp describes the socio-religious contexts for the emergence of the Christ movement. Throughout the Mediterranean region a few basic elements shaping the relationship between humans and gods were shared: an acknowledgement of divine superior power over human affairs and the development of individual and communitarian strategies designed to appease and minimize the unpredictability of the gods' actions. In the first half of the book, however, the Jewish and the "polytheist" strategies are presented separately. The religious history of the Jewish people is described in great detail beginning with the exile and leading up to the introduction of the "sects" (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and so on) which is largely indebted to Josephus and Philo. Throughout these centuries, Knapp emphasizes a few trajectories shaping Judaism (besides the turn toward monotheism). On the one hand, the observance of dietary and purity prescriptions became more widespread even in everyday life, as attested by material remains. On the other hand, average Jews grew more and more disaffected with the Temple and began to orient themselves toward a more "internalized" religiosity to the detriment of the authority of the priesthood. "Polytheist" religion is described in the long Chapter 5 which surveys a broad array of conservative, local, and communitarian sets of practices and beliefs. Knapp identifies two notable changes in this scenario. First, the emergence in Hellenistic times of philosophical schools whose focus is specifically on ethics, thus providing an important corrective for the lack of a moral system in polytheist religion. [End Page 421] Second, religious associations provided an important space for practices and discussions alongside the established spheres of civic and family religion. The second half of the book (Chapters 7 to 11) describes the trajectory of the Christ movement from Jesus to the second century CE. Interestingly, the figure of Jesus is briefly presented in Chapter 7 after a series of other messiahs and charismatics (mostly drawn from Josephus) who appeared and met unlucky ends over the first centuries BCE and CE. Knapp argues that the Christ movement fit well within the trajectories of internalization and moralization that he had sketched out beforehand both for Judaism and polytheist religions. Hostility, however, was generated in both camps by the claim of divine sonship on the part of Jesus and his followers (for the Jews) and by the exclusivist requirement to abandon sacrifices and other similar traditional practices (for the polytheists). In Chapter 10 Knapp maintains that the Christ movement's success depended largely on the miracles and magical acts performed by its missionaries. Such acts were, in the eyes of Mediterranean audiences, indistinguishable from the services provided by magicians and other performers of powerful deeds throughout the entire area in the period under consideration. The last chapter of the book sketches the changes that shaped Christianity under the double crisis produced by the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and the realization that the end of the world was not coming as immediately as expected. Christianity moved sharply away from Judaism and, at the same time, took on more and more "polytheistic" features, both (but in significantly different terms) among the elites and at the popular level. The book is well-written and carefully put together, with a rich complement of seven maps and forty-nine...

New Finds Regarding the Architecture and Sculptures of Ancient Tenea

Excavations in 2019 and 2020 in ancient Tenea revealed a main part of the city’s central web with public buildings totaling approximately 1.100 square meters. In particular, part of a public bath complex of Roman times was excavated, as well as part of an area of the Archaic times of religious significance. Several fragmentary statues have been found in the excavation of ancient Tenea and illustrate the visual culture of this centre from the severe style period to the late Hellenistic times. Moreover a relief of Dionysus held by a Satyr is walled in the main Church of Chiliomodi and should be dated in the Antonine times. During the recent period of the Tenea excavation, some important architectural blocks have been found, including Ionic and Doric capitals and column drums from different buildings. Among these limestone blocks there were fragments of triglyphs, a part of a Doric epistyle and part of a Doric column capital derived probably from the same building. Measuring the glyphs of the triglyph fragments in which a part of the metopes is saved, incorporated to the blocks, in relation with the taenia and the guttae of the epistyle, we found out that they belong to the same entablature of a middle scale Doric façade. To this façade probably belongs also the fragment of a Doric capital, without column’s rings. The beginning of the flutes is elaborated with a tooth chisel and only a part of the echinus and the hypotrachelion is saved. The width of the triglyphs is measured to 56–57 cm, identical dimension to the hypotrachelion of the capital at the level of the apophyge. Also at these blocks some lifting grooves have been found (named “lykos” in Greek), dated from the late archaic period until the middle of classic. During the research for comparanda to these blocks we initially thought that they could belong to a Doric propylon. After a preliminary analysis we can say that they look similar to those at the prostylon of the Thesaurus of Megara, at Delphi. The blocks of Tenea have the same dimensions and they form a similar building to this Thesaurus. Based on the exact type of this monument, following the same dimensions and geometry for the formation of the front view we tried to create an hypothetical representation of the blocks as part of the proposed entablature and finally, present as an hypothesis the entire front view of the monument, which was probably an archaic naiskos, situated very near to the present excavation site.

Städtische Philosophenkulte in der griechischen Welt zwischen Archaik und Hellenismus – Fakten und Fiktionen

The aim of this paper is to provide a systematical analysis of civic cults for philosophers in the Greek world as attested in literary and epigraphic sources for philosophers in Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic times. It examines six philosophers and persons who were connected with philosophy: Anaxagoras, Aristotle, Athenodorus of Tarsus, Iollas of Sardis, and Pythagoras. The main focus is on questions of the historicity of the cults as well as on their argumentative setting in the context of biographical accounts of the respective persons.

On Greek Intellectuals and the Roman Emperor Cult

The stance of Greek intellectuals towards the idea and the practice of Roman emperor cult has been often examined, with the main result that the complacent, conformist attitude of these subjects of the Empire has been ascertained (thus in a still basic study by G.W. Bowersock, 1973). A new scrutiny of the available evidence, however, spots also serious reserves in that circle towards the real content of emperor worship at least since the Antonine age, while outright and conscious flattery as driving force and quintessence of the imperial cult appears even earlier. After the proper analysis, cultic acceptance of a real benefactor-emperor, refined flattery or careful, direct or indirect, rejection appear as the three poles around which the attitudes of Greek intellectuals towards the imperial cult circled. Essentially, all three variant stances continued threads of reaction to the practice of ruler-cult beginning already in Hellenistic times, thus pointing to an underlying continuity between the ideological picture of the ruler in this period and the Roman Empire.

Factors of formation and specific aspects of syncretic processes in Meroe religion

The author explores specific manifestations of the phenomenon of syncretism in theMeroereligion, as well as the factors, which did significantly contribute to it. She traces these factors on a wide time scale starting from the early archaeological cultures of theNileValleyto the Hellenistic time. The main subject of research is the cult of the gods, as well as the myths and rituals, which did accompany worship. The article deals with concepts of ‘unity and multitude’, which were instrumental for creation of local concepts of Egyptian deities. According to the author, this was the beginning of syncretism. Both the subsequent adaptation and acculturation can be seen in rethinking and creating images that retained many primordial Egyptian features. The Meroe ‘friend or foe’ concept could be traced on specific forms of adaptation of ‘enemy’ images to the Meroitic culture and the subsequent perception of them as “own” or “local”. One can identify this process as “inversion”, which run in two directions: the “alien”, i.e. Egyptian gods in fullness of time became “own” gods inMeroe, the gods ofKush, in their turn became part of the Egyptian pantheon. The results of the process, which culminated in creation of a syncretic culture can be seen in emergence of new hitherto unknown deities, which were distinguished by combination of various Greek, Egyptian and Meroitic features. The Hellenistic features ofMeroedeities came to this culture viaEgypt. The formation of the syncreticMeroereligion up to the beginning of the Christian era was marked by the mutual influence and coexistence of “borrowed” deities as well as those, which came into being in course of the process of “borrowing”. The phenomenon of syncretism was spread through many aspects of religious life covering not just individual images of deities or various ritual practices, but also the whole theological system ofEgypt. In the history of the world religions this was the first recorded spread of religious teaching beyond its historical borders and the subsequent adaptation to an “alien”, Sudanese culture.

Antiochus III’s Decree for Jerusalem and the Persian Decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah and LXX 1 Esdras

Abstract The article endorses the view that the royal decrees for the Jerusalem temple inserted in Ezra-Nehemiah (and First Esdras) are not genuine, and explores the historical conditions in which they were composed. It points to similarities between the topical content of Antiochus III’s decree issued in 200/198 BCE (Josephus, Ant. 12.138–144) and that of the Persian decrees, and argues that the latter were based on the former. They were composed in the context of the Maccabean crisis, when it was claimed that Jason cancelled the privileges (political and fiscal) which Antiochus had granted (2 Macc 4:7–15), as a legitimizing precedent to Antiochus’ decree. Moreover, the Persian decrees were used to explore the economic aspect of the relationship between the local community and imperial ruler in Hellenistic times (taxes and euergetism), and to provide a template for he ideal (Hellenistic) imperial king.

Le culte deZeus Brontôn : l’espace et la morphologie du dieu de l’orage dans la Phrygie d’époque romaine

AbstractThis study aims at reconstructing the evolution of the character of the Anatolian storm-god in Phrygia from the Hittite period to the Roman imperial era, particularly taking into account the Greek votive dedications toZeus Brontôn.According to the Hittite and Luwian texts, the power of the storm-god was not only limited to the sky, but encompassed fertility, the order of the seasons and, because of his role as the protector of kingship, the social order. Because they favourited a female deity generically called Matar, the coming of the Phrygians seems to be linked to the degradation of the cult, which remained practiced by the lower strata of the population and in the countryside. It was only after the arrival of the Greeks in Hellenistic times and the identification of the local ancient storm-gods with Zeus that their worship became tangible and visible again. The impressive number of dedications, mostly dated between the second and third centuries CE, constitutes an excellent documentary base for studying the character of these local deities. In these epigraphic texts, the theonym Zeus was used as a generic name (Gesamtsbezeichnung) for several divine beings, only partially comparable to the Greek Olympian Zeus.

THE NATURE OF THE GREEK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT - ITS PAST AND PRESENT

This study surveys the historical development of the understanding of the nature of New Testament Greek from the 16 th to the 19 th century. It aims at two main controversies, namely the Purist-Hebraist controversy, and the Sacred-Common Greek controversary. The former centres on the issues concerning the purity of the language reflected in the New Testament. Since examples of hebraisms are so common in the new Testament, the Purist who tried their very best to defend the subtleties and elegance of the language on a par with the classical literature, were bound to lose their battle. As a result, the victory of the Hebraists lead to another even more debated issue: the Sacred-Common controversy. The peculiarities of the language reflected in the corpus have prompted some biblical scholars to thinks that NT Greek is so closely linked with the message in the NT, that it is in fact a special means of the Holy Spirit to communicate with mankind. This view has become very popular under the aegis of Rothe’s term, “language of the Holy Ghost’. This view was soon taken over, especially after Deissmann’s discoveries of the papyri, by the opponent view that NT Greek should actually be classified as the koine dialect spoken in Hellenistic times. In the final section, a brief evaluation of the entire situation is given in the light of the present state of the art.

Attic Black-Glazed Pottery from the Collection of the Archaeological Museum of the IA NASU

Amount of Attic tableware and ceremonial ware finds in the Northern Black Sea region is large, and that is why they are so important since they provide information for detailed chronology of ancient material. The collection of finds from Olbia, which is exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of the IA NASU is quite numerous. The investigated part of the material includes Attic black-glazed pottery, which was found in Olbia in different years at various sites of excavations, from 1962 to 2000. The vast majority of the studied collection consists of vessels for drinking wine — eleven vessels of sixteen studied, dating by the Athenian Agora from 500 to 325 BC. Pottery for wine are represented by cups and kantharoi in various types. These are the cup — «bolsal» — two examples; cup-kantharos — two examples; one Hellenistic kantharos with an applique ornament and one kantharos — microform; cup-skyphos; stemmed dish; cup «delicate class» and a stemmed cup («vicup»). «Opened» types of pottery include a bowl with an outturned rim 350—325 BC and a fish plate 350—325 BC, a saltcellar from the same time of production. Rare finds of «closed» pottery forms are oinohoe with a relief ornament of V century BC. All the forms above have direct analogies in the material from the Athenian Agora and finds of Attic black-glazed ware from other cities of the Northern Black Sea. These forms belong to the ceremonial tableware and demonstrate an active trade relation of Olbia with the Attic region during the Classical and Hellenistic time. The abundance of analogies from the ancient sites of the Black Sea region, including the cities of the Bosporus, as well as Chersonesos, Tyras, Histria, Apollonia, necropolises and settlements of their rural districts, proves that the import of Attic ceramics to Olbia was a part of a large trade expansion from Attica to the cities of Pont Euxine in V—IV centuries BC. Trade relation were systematic, developing consistently, covering more and more ancient cities of the Black Sea region and beyond. Olbia was a strategic point on the main trade route to other cities and settlements along the western coast, across Olbia. For this reason, almost all categories of this type of tableware are among the finds of the settlement and necropolises of the city. Olbia’s collection of materials is a benchmark for other Northern Black Sea cities, which is why it needs thorough analysis and careful attention.