Hellenism and the Local Communities of the Eastern Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
Local Engagement ◽  
The Many

This volume focuses on questions of Greek and non-Greek cultural interaction in the eastern Mediterranean and the ancient Near East during a broadly defined Hellenistic period from 400 BCE–250 CE. While recent historiographical emphasis on the non-Greek cultures of the eastern Mediterranean is a critical methodological advancement, this volume re-examines the presence of Greek cultural elements in these areas. The regions discussed—Asia Minor, Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia—were quite different from one another; so, too, were the cross-cultural interactions we can observe in each case. Nevertheless, overarching questions that unite these local phenomena are addressed by leading scholars in their individual contributions. These questions are at the heart of this volume: Why did the non-Greek communities of the Eastern Mediterranean engage so closely with Greek cultural forms and political and cultural practices? How did this engagement translate into the daily lives of the non-Greek cultures of Asia Minor, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Egypt? Local engagement differed from region to region, but some elements, such as local forms of the polis and writing in the Greek language, were attractive for many of the non-Greek communities from fourth-century Anatolia to second-century Babylon. The Greek empires and the Greek communities of the Eastern Mediterranean, too, were transformed by these local interpretations. The presence of adapted, changed, and locally interpreted Greek elements deeply entrenched in each community’s culture are for us the many forms of Hellenisms, but it is ultimately these categories, too, that this volume wishes to examine.

The Greek Impact in Asia Minor 400–250 BCE

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Persian Empire ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
Fourth Century Bce ◽  
Political Objective ◽  
The Impact

Until the end of the fourth century BCE the impact of Greek culture in Asia Minor was limited. Lykians, Karians, and Lydians offered alternatives to Hellenism and preserved their own languages until the end of the fourth century BCE. However, by 250 BCE these Anatolian languages ceased to be used in public or private documents, and polis organization became normative. After the overthrow of the Persian Empire the autonomy of Greek cities became the highest political objective. Greek civic decrees in the early Hellenistic period emphasized that democratic legitimacy depended on quorate citizen votes, the Greek language became the only medium for official public communication, and the native populations maintained their identity and independence by adopting polis organization. Between 400 and 250 BCE these populations did not merely absorb Greek cultural influence but underwent the encompassing experience of becoming Greek.

From Pre-Makkabaean Judaea to Hekatomnid Karia and Back Again

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Chrubasik
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Architectural Styles ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The City

This chapter analyses the adaptation of Greek cultural and political practices in two distinct environments: fourth-century Karia and second-century Judaea. Both regions see a marked political transformation in their respective time periods. The Hekatomnid rulers actively fostered the foundation of poleis, experimented with Greek architectural styles, and the new polis communities and rulers publicly displayed Greek-language inscriptions. Similarly, one of the high priests of Judaea attempted to transform the city of Jerusalem into a polis and founded Greek polis institutions there. By raising the question of why Greek cultural elements were valuable to the agents of fourth-century Karia and second-century Judaea, this chapter proposes that very local reasons attracted the local elites of these regions to Greek institutions, and argues against seeing these processes as being deeply connected to global trends of a supposed Greek oikoumene.

Hellenism? An Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Chrubasik ◽  
Daniel King
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Fourth Century Bce ◽  
History Of ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
Political Time ◽  
The Individual

This chapter introduces the themes of the volume and the individual contributions. It argues that the cultural history of the Hellenistic East transcends the political time frame often associated with the period in Anglophone publications. Therefore, the framework of this study is extended to include the fourth century BCE as well as the first three centuries CE in order to closely investigate the processes of cultural interaction often associated with the term Hellenism. It offers examples of the presence of adapted Greek cultural and political elements in the communities of the Eastern Mediterranean, it raises the question of cross-cultural exchange and its impact on Greekness itself, and it opens the debate on whether terms such as Hellenism, Hellenistic, and Hellenization are still useful to describe the cultural processes in the period under investigation.

A Note on Architectural Sculpture in Central Lycia.

1972 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 187-197
Author(s):  
R. M. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Formative Stage ◽  
Basic Work ◽  
Architectural Sculpture ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Basin ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City

One of the many critical periods of Anatolian archaeology is that of Late Antiquity, when the long-established nexus of Graeco-Roman cities in the Eastern Mediterranean basin gave way to an order which looked increasingly to Constantinople. The refoundation of Byzantium on an imperial scale had occurred in the fourth century, but some two hundred years were to pass before the city was to achieve a metropolitan status which was unequivocal. The factors which determined its character and success have been, and still are, much disputed; but there can be no doubt that amongst them the part played by Anatolia in this formative stage of the Byzantine world was considerable. And yet this period in Anatolia—the transition from the Classical to the Medieval—has attracted comparatively little attention amongst archaeologists, and basic work (survey, excavation and analysis) remains undone. A start has been made, but this must be followed up in earnest if the surface evidence, so vulnerable to modern agricultural and economic development, is to be recovered.

A Handbook to Eddic Poetry: Myths and Legends of Early Scandinavia, ed. Carolyne Larrington, Judy Quinn, and Brittany Schorn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, xii, 413 pp., 12 b/w ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 366-366
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
Old Norse ◽  
Entire Volume ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Made In ◽  
Scandinavian Literature

Eddic poetry constitutes one of the most important genres in Old Norse or Scandinavian literature and has been studied since the earliest time of modern-day philology. The progress we have made in that field is impressive, considering the many excellent editions and translations, not to mention the countless critical studies in monographs and articles. Nevertheless, there is always a great need to revisit, to summarize, to review, and to digest the knowledge gained so far. The present handbook intends to address all those goals and does so, to spell it out right away, exceedingly well. But in contrast to traditional concepts, the individual contributions constitute fully developed critical article, each with a specialized topic elucidating it as comprehensively as possible, and concluding with a section of notes. Those are kept very brief, but the volume rounds it all off with an inclusive, comprehensive bibliography. And there is also a very useful index at the end. At the beginning, we find, following the table of contents, a list of the contributors, unfortunately without emails, a list of translations and abbreviations of the titles of Eddic poems in the Codex Regius and then elsewhere, and a very insightful and pleasant introduction by Carolyne Larrington. She briefly introduces the genre and then summarizes the essential points made by the individual authors. The entire volume is based on the Eddic Network established by the three editors in 2012, and on two workshops held at St. John’s College, Oxford in 2013 and 2014.

The Fate of Small Towns, Hilltop Settlements, and Elite Residences in Merovingian-Period Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-640
Author(s):  
Luc Bourgeois
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
The Many

The study of places of power in the Merovingian realm has long been focused on cities, monasteries, and royal palaces. Recent archaeological research has led to the emergence of other categories. Four of them are addressed in this chapter. These include the capitals of fallen cities, which continue to mark the landscape in one way or another. Similarly, the fate of small Roman towns during the early Middle Ages shows that most of them continued to host a variety of secular and ecclesiastical powers. In addition, from the fourth century onward, large hilltop fortified settlements multiplied anew. They complemented earlier networks of authority, whether elite residences, artisan communities, or real towns. Finally, from the seventh century onward, the great aristocratic villas of late antiquity were transformed into settlements organized around one or more courtyards and supplemented by funerary and religious structures. The evolution of political spaces and lifestyles explains both the ruptures in power networks that occurred during the Merovingian epoch and the many continuities that can be seen in the four kinds of places studied in this chapter that were marked by these developments.

Is Turkey ready for the Post COVID-19 World Order?

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Summer 2021) ◽  
pp. 117-140
Author(s):  
Bora Bayraktar
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on the global economy and politics. Closures and lockdowns stopped international trade resulting in an economic slowdown. It has changed the daily lives of people and the way business takes place. Politics has also been affected by the pandemic. Discussions about the changing world order have gained a new dimension and momentum. In this article, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in international relations is analyzed. Has COVID-19 triggered a change in the world order? If it has, what are the nature, scope, and content of this change? As a rising regional power in the Eastern Mediterranean region, how has Turkey been affected by this, and how did it respond to the changing situation? Signs of deteriorating world order, declining U.S. leadership, escalating geopolitical competition amongst global powers were in the air before the pandemic. Turkey’s adaptation to this new world order pre-dates the pandemic, when it changed its political system, and invested in its security and cohesion.

Commentary Cultural Brokerage in the Newborn Nursery

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-54
Author(s):  
Lynn Deitrick
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Northeastern State ◽  
Cultural Brokerage ◽  
The U.S

Cultural issues play an important part in our daily lives. Often, the cultural practices of immigrants differ from those of the U.S. community in which they now live. The cultural misunderstandings that can result occur in a variety of situations. This is the story of one such misunderstanding that happened a few years ago at a small suburban hospital nursery in a northeastern state.

scholarly journals Marble vessels from Jiyeh (Porphyreon)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariusz Gwiazda
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Geographical Factors ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
A Site ◽  
Early Byzantine

Imported marble vessels from Jiyeh (Porphyreon), a site on the Phoenician coast, could not be easily identified in terms of function and dating for lack of sound stratigraphic evidence. An examination of parallels from other sites in the Eastern Mediterranean was needed in order to determine the chronology and uses of these objects. Virtually all of the Jiyeh vessels were thus dated to the early Byzantine period. Forms included utilitarian mortars and plates, as well as tentative liturgical tabletops. The repertoire represents standard exports of vessels of these shapes to Syro-Palestine from Greece and Asia Minor. Their distribution in Syro-Palestine was conditioned by geographical factors, as well as the affluence of settlements that imported such objects.

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