OF FOXES AND VINEYARDS: GREEK PERSPECTIVES ON THE SONG OF SONGS

2003 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anselm Hagedorn
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Cultural Milieu ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Greek Vases

AbstractThe article aims at utilising some further Greek parallels for an interpretation of the Song of Songs. Cant. ii 15 serves as starting point for the enterprise. Next to the fairly well known and often discussed parallels from Sappho and Theocritus, for the .rst time evidence from Greek vases and from the Anthologia Palatina is discussed. Rather than postulating any literary inuences between Greek texts and the Song of Songs we regard the study as an investigation into the (Eastern) Mediterranean cultural milieu to which the biblical and Greek texts belong. However, if Song of Songs can indeed be dated to the Hellenistic period, such inuences and possible dependencies seem not impossible.

Amphoras in the Apollonia Museum Store

1981 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 75-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Royal Air Force ◽  
Agricultural Produce ◽  
Representative Selection ◽  
Coarse Wares ◽  
Selection Of

The store rooms of the Department of Antiquities at Apollonia contain pottery from excavations at Apollonia and Ras el Hilal, together with a few stray finds from other sites (including some from the sea collected by the Royal Air Force Aqualung Society in the 1950s and early 1960s). The bulk of this material dates in the later Roman period (i.e. sixth century A.D. onwards), but includes a little earlier Roman and some Hellenistic pottery. There is a representative selection of coarse wares, including amphoras, as yet unpublished. These are mainly in fragmentary condition but their typological range conforms with that from the well stratified and dated excavations at Berenice-Benghazi (Riley, in press).Publication of the more complete of these amphoras seems justified as there is a relative scarcity of published information on Roman amphoras from the eastern Mediterranean, at a time when many eastern types are being recognised in western Mediterranean excavated contexts (Panella, 1974; Hayes, 1976a; Riley, 1981). In addition, a brief consideration of the other amphoras helps to illustrate the diversity of trade in liquid agricultural produce within the eastern Mediterranean region. No locally made amphoras were noted on the Apollonia stone: all were imported into Cyrenaica.The Hellenistic period is represented by Rhodian (Inv. Nos. 321, 322 and 1582) and Knidian (Inv. Nos. 141 and 723) amphora fragments. There are several sherds of early Imperial amphoras, and attention has been drawn to these by Panella (1974). These include a first to second century A.D. Aegean type (ibid., 477, Ostia Form LXIII; Apollonia Box 2036, from Ras el Hilal); a Spanish garum amphora of the same period (ibid., 513, Ostia Form LXIII; Apollonia Inv. No. 256); several Tripolitanian amphoras of the first and second centuries A.D. (ibid., 562, Ostia Form LXIV; Apollonia Inv. Nos. 253, 254, 315 and 317); and a common Aegean amphora of the third and fourth centuries A.D. (ibid., 597, Ostia Form VI).

scholarly journals Spatial distribution and abundance of the megabenthic fauna community in Gabes gulf (Tunisia, eastern Mediterranean Sea)

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. EL LAKHRACH ◽  
A. HATTOUR ◽  
O. JARBOUI ◽  
K. ELHASNI ◽  
A.A. RAMOS-ESPLA
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Bottom Type ◽  
North East ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Marine Diversity

The aim of this paper is to bring to light the knowledge of marine diversity of invertebrates in Gabes gulf. The spatial distribution of the megabenthic fauna community in Gabes gulf (Tunisia, Eastern Mediterranean Sea), together with the bottom type and vegetation cover, were studied. The abundance of the megabenthic fauna was represented by eight groups: Echinodermata (38%), Crustacea (21%), Tunicata (19%), Mollusca (13%), Porifera (4%), Cnidaria (3%), Bryozoa, and Annelida (2%). It was spatially more concentrated in the coast area of the gulf than in the offshore waters. This area, especially, in Southern Kerkennah, North-est of Gabes and North-east of Djerba appeared to be in a good ecological condition  hosting a variety of species like the paguridsPaguristes eremita and Pagurus cuanensis, the brachyura Medorippe lanata, Inachus doresttensis, the Gastropoda Hexaplex trunculus, Bolinus brandaris, Aporrhais pespelecani, andErosaria turdus, the Bivalvia Fulvia fragilis, the Echinoidea Psammechinus microtuberculatus, Holothuria polii,Ophiothrix fragilis and Antedon mediterranea, and the AscidiaceaAplidium cf. conicum, Didemnum spp, and Microcosmus exasperatus.The species’ compositions of the megabentic fauna community showed clearly that the spatial analysis represented the differences between the community of these two regions (inshore waters and offshore waters). These differences were closely related to peculiar characters of the fauna and biotopes (depth, bottom type and vegetation cover community). The results of the present study should be considered as a necessary starting point for a further analysis of priceless benthic fauna contribution to the marine environment and its organisms.

Herennius Pontius: The Construction of a Samnite Philosopher

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-147
Author(s):  
Phillip Sidney Horky
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Cultural Paradigms ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Fourth Century Bce ◽  
Extreme Responses

This article explores the historiographical traditions concerning Herennius Pontius, a Samnite wisdom-practitioner who is said by the Peripatetic Aristoxenus of Tarentum to have been an interlocutor of the philosophers Archytas of Tarentum and Plato of Athens. It argues that extant speeches attributed to Herennius Pontius in the writings of Cassius Dio and Appian preserve a philosophy of “extreme proportional benefaction” among unequals. Such a theory is marked by Peripatetic language and concepts, which suggests that these speeches derive from a single Peripatetic source, probably Aristoxenus. The reception of Aristoxenus' description of Herennius Pontius among Greeks and Romans is sharply divided. Greek theories of ethics among unequals such as those of Aristotle and Archytas, which aim for moderation, can be distinguished from that attributed to Herennius Pontius, which is circumstantial and stipulates extreme responses to extremes. Romans, in particular Appius Claudius Caecus and Sulla, espouse proverbial wisdom strikingly similar to the theory of “extreme proportional benefaction” associated with Herennius Pontius. Such comparisons suggest that starting in the late fourth century bce, Romans and Samnites may have held shared ideological principles, as defined against Greek cultural paradigms. Scholars are thus prompted to consider Herennius Pontius as a starting point for a much larger inquiry into shared ideology among non-Greeks in Italy during the Hellenistic period and beyond.

Testing the Mesozoic plate configuration of the Eastern Mediterranean domain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Nirrengarten ◽  
Geoffroy Mohn ◽  
François Sapin ◽  
Jon Teasdale ◽  
Charlotte Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
Satellite Gravity ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Rifted Margins ◽  
Lithospheric Extension ◽  
Starting Point

<p>At the transition between the Atlantic and the Tethys oceanic systems, the plate kinematic configuration of the East Mediterranean domain during the early Mesozoic is still poorly understood. Several factors like the Messinian salt, the different compressional events, the thick carbonate platforms and Cenozoic deltaic deposits combine to blur the imaging of Eastern Mediterranean rifted margins. This has led to distinct and often markedly contrasting interpretations of the timing of opening (ranging from Carboniferous to Cretaceous), structural evolution (divergent to transform segments) and kinematics (N-S to WNW-ESE extension).</p><p>To address this long-standing problem, we gathered disparate geological observations from the margins surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to integrate them in a global plate model. Distinct, end-member plate kinematic scenarios were tested, challenged and iterated by observations from the Eastern Mediterranean rifted margins.</p><p>The N-African and NW-Arabian margins of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are relatively weakly reactivated by the different compressional events and were chosen as the starting point of our integrative tectonic study. Legacy plate models for the area mostly show N-S to NNE-SSW opening of the Eastern Mediterranean of pre-Jurassic age. We have integrated dense industrial seismic data, deep boreholes and dredge data, as well as enhanced satellite gravity images that strongly suggests WNW-ESE oriented lithospheric extension and sea floor spreading during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.</p><p>Our approach starts by the mapping of the main extensional and compressional structures, the different crustal domains and the pre-rift facies distribution. We investigate the potential conjugate margins now located and imbricated in the Dinarides, Hellenides and Taurides on the northern side of the East Mediterranean Sea by looking at the drowning ages of the Mesozoic carbonate platform and the related rift structures. We refine the full fit and initial spreading of the Atlantic Ocean using crustal thickness and features observed on both sides of the system to calibrate the motion of Eurasia and Africa, which determine the space available to develop the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Initial tests on the evolution of the main tectonic plates highlight an insufficient eastward motion of Africa relative to Eurasia (Iberia) to accommodate the extension of Eastern Mediterranean during the Jurassic with a purely WNW-ESE direction of extension. Further hypotheses remain to be tested. However, for now, a scenario involving poly-phased and poly-directional motion of the conjugate continent “Greater Adria” during Jurassic is favoured to model the Eastern Mediterranean plate evolution in relation with the closure of the Neo-Tethys further north.</p>

MARBLE SCULPTURES FROM PHTHIOTIS IN THE LAMIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

2013 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 275-321
Author(s):  
Iphigeneia Leventi
Keyword(s):  
Formal Language ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Central Greece ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
Marble Sculptures ◽  
Eros And Psyche ◽  
Greek East

Marble statuettes, now in the Lamia Archaeological Museum, that date to the Classical and above all the Hellenistic periods, and a Hellenistic votive relief depicting Herakles are presented here. This study investigates the relations between the local workshop in central Greece which produced them and the major Classical and Hellenistic sculptural centres of Athens and of the Aegean islands, Asia Minor and the kingdoms of the Greek East generally. A marble statuette of a goddess which may represent Artemis from Melitaia, and a marble statuette of a seated girl of unknown provenance are dated to the Classical period. The subjects portrayed in the Late Hellenistic material show a typical repertory, marble statuettes of Aphrodite or Aphrodite-like figures, and a statuary group of Eros and Psyche in marble, unusual for this period. The ways in which the local sculptors of the Late Hellenistic period in the area of modern Phthiotis adopted the typological and stylistic trends current in the great cosmopolitan centres are a major concern here. In the Hellenistic period, the production of marble statuettes for making offerings at public and domestic sanctuaries and for decorating opulent villas was in vogue, and a common formal language was created especially for small-scale sculpture in the eastern Mediterranean and the new art markets of Italy. The vehicles by which these artistic influences were transmitted to the sculptural production of central Greece will also be investigated.

The fourth-century and Hellenistic reception of Thucydides

1995 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 47-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hornblower
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Complete List ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Dionysius Of Halicarnassus

How well known was Thucydides' history in the fourth century BC and the hellenistic period? Gomme, with an eye on Polybius, once wrote of the ‘nearly complete silence about Thucydides in what remains to us of ancient writers before the age of Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus’. This is startling at first and has to my knowledge led to the misconception that Thucydides virtually disappeared after his own time. Gomme was however referring merely to specific mentions or discussions of Thucydides by name: he went on to speak of the ‘silent compliment paid him by Kratippos, Xenophon, Theopompos, and Philistos’. Even this is far from a complete list, and Gomme's possibly misleading paragraph can serve as my starting-point.

Agriculture and Rural Life in the Ottoman Empire (ca 1500-1878)

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 3-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suraiya Faroqhi
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Rural Life ◽  
Time Limits ◽  
Starting Point

When introducing this survey, it is necessary to say a word of justification about the time limits adopted. The year 1500 has been selected as an approximate starting point, because only during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512) do Ottoman tax registers become frequent enough to allow even approximate conclusions with respect to agricultural production. However when dealing with certain regions of the Empire, we need to adopt an even later starting point. After all, part of this paper deals with ‘Syria’ in the broad sense of the word, that is, the region bordering the eastern Mediterranean between Anatolia and Egypt; and this area was only conquered by the Ottomans in 1516. As to Tunisia, to which the present paper will also refer, this country only became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1533 or 1570.

scholarly journals Da Lagkadikia al Mediterraneo: gli spazi delle migrazioni in Grecia

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerio Raffaele
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Dublin Regulation ◽  
Geographical Position ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
Fortress Europe ◽  
The Ideal

The geopolitical upheavals affecting the Middle East and North Africa at the beginning of the 21st century have created an arc of instability around the Balkan Peninsula, causing serious consequences for all the countries in the area as regards migration flows. Due to its peculiar geographical position, Greece has thus found itself at the forefront of the so-called migratory emergency, which has involved the European Union (UE) in the last few years. The Dublin Regulation first and then the closure of the borders, following the agreement on migrants between the UE and Turkey in March 2016, have made Greece a sort of first reception hotspot for the whole Eastern Mediterranean, giving rise at the same time to new Balkan migration routes managed by human traffickers. Historically a hinge between East and West, today’s Greece constitutes the ideal starting point to interpret in a multi-scalar perspective both the weaknesses of the paradigm on which the so-called ‘Fortress Europe’ is based, and the geographical variety of problematic ‘living spaces’ that recent migratory phenomena have contributed to build over time.

Sex, Spirituality, and Pre-Modern Readings of the Song of Songs

Horizons ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Erotic Poetry ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Last Two Millennia ◽  
The Erotic

ABSTRACTWhile unfamiliar to many today, the Song of Songs was once one of the most frequently interpreted books of the Bible. This article seeks to counter the current lack of familiarity by highlighting the significance for the classroom of pre-modern exegesis of the Song. As course content, it provides a starting point from which to examine Christian thought and practice over the last two millennia. In particular, it supplies evidence that Christians (and Jews) have expressed some of their most profound insights into spirituality in terms of the erotic poetry of the Song. This essay concludes with an examination of method. How can pre-modern exegesis contribute to contemporary debates about interpretation, particularly of biblical texts?

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