‎Erica Angliker, Ilaria Bultrighini (eds)‎
‎New Approaches to the Materiality of Text in the Ancient Mediterranean. From Monuments and Buildings to Small Portable Objects‎

‎, Brepols, 2023 Paperback, 262 pages, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:119 b/w, 18 col., 1 maps b/w, Language: English. ISBN 9782503601564.‎

Reference : 64297

‎Summary In recent years, the study of epigraphy and ancient writings has undergone a 'material turn', as scholars have increasingly looked beyond just the contents of written sources to also focus on their broader material and visual contexts as a way of exploring the layers of different meanings that can attach to written evidence. Taking this interdisciplinary approach as its starting point, this volume draws together contributions from specialists in different fields in order to analyze text-bearing objects and monuments from across the ancient Mediterranean world. From texts inscribed on large stone monuments and buildings, clay, or metal tablets, to writings on papyrus and parchment rolls, jewellery, vases, coins, and textiles, writing on different materials had manifold possibilities. The case studies gathered here examine novel approaches to the creation and display of inscribed objects, as well as to the ways in which such items were approached and perceived by people during a chronological period ranging from the Late Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. In doing so, the volume sheds new light not only on the interplay between ancient texts, text-bearers, and viewers within their wider spatial and physical contexts, but also on the possibilities opened by exploring the material aspects of writing through interdisciplinary approaches. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations 1. Introduction. The Material Turn in the Study of Ancient Texts Erica Angliker and Ilaria Bultrighini I. Texts on Portable Objects - Tablets, Vases, Ostraca, and the Inscribing Hand 2. A Comparative Approach to Methods of Inscribing Clay Tablets. Interaction and Innovation in Cyprus and Ugarit Philippa M. Steele and Philip J. Boyes 3. The Brygos Painter's Miswritten Signature on the Lancastre pelike Gilberto Da Silva Francisco 4. A Lesson in a Desert Quarry. A Material Approach to a School Ostracon Julia Lougovaya II. Texts on Portable Objects - Coins, Rolls, Codices, and the Authoritativeness of Texts 5. Inspecto nummo?The Materiality of Coin Imagery and Inscriptions in the Roman World Dario Calomino 6. What is a Book? The Ideology of Materiality in Ancient Greek and Roman Writing Technology Nicola Reggiani III. Texts on Monuments and Buildings - Spaces and Contexts of Ancient Inscriptions 7. Women in Trouble, and the Habit of Objectifying a Text in the So-Called Confession Inscriptions Irene Salvo 8. Epigraphy and the Power of Precedence in Asia Minor Naomi Carless Unwin IV. Texts that Move Through Media - Body and Text 9. Inscribed Materialities. Greek Curse Tablets Jessica Lamont 10. Formulating Faith on Objects and Buildings. The 'Light, Life' Formula in Late Antiquity Sean V. Leatherbury 11. 'And the Word Was Made flesh'. Greek and Aramaic Inscriptions as Substitutes for the Physical Presence of Benefactors in Eastern Christian Sanctuaries Pawe? Nowakowski V. Texts that Move through Media - Greek Literary and Inscriptional Epigram 12. Elegy, Epigram, and the Complementarity of Text and Monument Joseph W. Day 13. From Courtesans, to Goddesses. The Materialization of Ritual Practice in Nossis's Votive Epigrams Sherry (Chiayi) Lee 14. Strategies of Ocular and Imaginary Deixis in Greek Epigrams Federica Scicolone 15. Afterword Michael Squire Index‎