JJP 26 (1996) Journal of Juristic Papyrology


Book Description

(Journal of Juristic Papyrology 1996)




The Rich and the Pure


Book Description

A portrait of history’s first complex Christian society as seen through the lens of Christian philanthropy and gift giving As the Roman Empire broke down in western Europe, its prosperity moved decisively eastward, to what is now known as the Byzantine Empire. Here was born history’s first truly affluent, multifaceted Christian society. One of the ideals used to unite the diverse millions of people living in this vast realm was the Christianized ideal of philanthrōpia. In this sweeping cultural and social history, Daniel Caner shows how philanthropy required living up to Jesus’s injunction to “Give to all who ask of you,” by offering mercy and/or material aid to every human being, regardless of their origin or status. Caner shows how Christian philanthropy became articulated through distinct religious ideals of giving that helped define proper social relations among the rich, the poor, and “the pure” (Christian holy people), resulting in new and enduring social expectations. In tracking the evolution of Christian giving over three centuries, he brings to the fore the concerns of the peoples of Early Byzantium, from the countryside to the lower levels of urban society to the imperial elites, as well as the hierarchical relationships that arose among them. The Rich and the Pure offers nothing less than a portrait of the whole of early Byzantine society.




JJP 30 (2000) Journal of Juristic Papyrology


Book Description

(Journal of Juristic Papyrology 2000)










Making Amulets Christian


Book Description

Making Amulets Christian: Artefacts, Scribes, and Contexts examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice--the writing of incantations on amulets--changed in an increasingly Christian context. It considers how the formulation of incantations and amulets changed as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman empire. Theodore de Bruyn investigates what we can learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them. He shows how incantations and amulets were indebted to rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians. This study analyzes different types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. It argues for 'conditioned individuality' in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon-by what is called 'tradition' in the field of religious studies.




Papyri of the University Library of Basel (P.Bas. II)


Book Description

Die Universitätsbibliothek in Basel ist im Besitz einer kleinen Papyrussammlung von 63 Papyri aus ptolemäischer, römischer sowie spätantiker Zeit in überwiegend griechischer, aber auch hieratischer, lateinischer, koptischer und mittelpersischer Sprache. Der Freiwillige Museumsverein der Stadt Basel erwarb sie im Jahre 1899 für die Universitätsbibliothek und machte damit Basel zur einer der ersten Universitäten, die im Besitz einer Sammlung griechischer Papyri war. Im frühen 20. Jahrhundert nahm sich zwar der an der Universität Basel als Professor für Rechtsgeschichte lehrende Ernst Rabel (Basel 1906-1910) der Sammlung an und bearbeitete einige ausgewählte Texte. Doch er beließ es bei einer Auswahl von 26 Papyri, die er als „Papyrusurkunden der Öffentlichen Bibliothek der Universität zu Basel" während des 1. Weltkriegs im Jahre 1917 publizierte. Dieser Band bietet nun eine Reedition der bereits bekannten Stücke und eine Erstedition aller weiteren Basler Papyri.




Reforming the Church before Modernity


Book Description

Reforming the Church before Modernity considers the question of ecclesial reform from late antiquity to the 17th century, and tackles this complex question from primarily cultural perspectives, rather than the more usual institutional approaches. The common themes are social change, centres and peripheries of change, monasticism, and intellectuals and their relationship to reform. This innovative approach opens up the question of how religious reform took place and challenges existing ecclesiological models that remains too focussed on structures in a manner artificial for pre-modern Europe. Several chapters specifically take issue with the problem of what constitutes reform, reformations, and historians' notions of the periodization of reform, while in others the relationship between personal transformation and its broader social, political or ecclesial context emerges as a significant dynamic. Presenting essays from a distinguished international cast of scholars, the book makes an important contribution to the debates over ecclesiology and religious reform stimulated by the anniversary of Vatican II.




Diverging Paths?


Book Description

Diverging Paths? investigates an important question, to which the answers must be very complex: “why did certain sorts of institutionalisation and institutional continuity characterise government and society in Christendom by the later Middle Ages, but not the Islamic world, whereas the reverse end-point might have been predicted from the early medieval situation?” This core question lies within classic historiographical debates, to which the essays in the volume, written by leading medievalists, make significant contributions. The papers, drawing on a wide range of evidence and methodologies, span the middle ages, chronologically and geographically. At the same time, the core question relates to matters of strong contemporary interest, notably the perceived characteristics of power exercised within Islamic Middle Eastern regimes. Contributors are Stuart Airlie, Gadi Algazi, Sandro Carocci, Simone Collavini, Emanuele Conte, Nadia El Cheikh, Maribel Fierro, John Hudson, Caroline Humfress, Michel Kaplan, Hugh Kennedy, Simon MacLean, Eduardo Manzano, Susana Naroztky, Annliese Nef, Vivien Prigent, Ana Rodríguez, Magnus Ryan and Bernard Stolte.




Huitième congrès international d'études coptes (Paris 2004)


Book Description

Les congrès internationaux dâe(tm)études coptes, organisés tous les quatre ans sous lâe(tm)égide de lâe(tm)International Association of Coptic Studies, comprennent traditionnellement une série de rapports de synthèse sur les différentes branches de la «coptologie». Ces rapports permettent de mesurer les progrès accomplis depuis le précédent congrès et dâe(tm)indiquer des perspectives, de recommander des lignes de recherche pour les années à venir. Lors du congrès tenu à Paris du 28 juin au 3 juillet 2004, quinze rapports ont ainsi été présentés et sont publiés ici. Câe(tm)est un nombre plus important que dâe(tm)habitude car il inclut, outre les domaines incontournables comme lâe(tm)archéologie - qui comprend aussi les recherches menées en Nubie -, lâe(tm)histoire, lâe(tm)histoire de lâe(tm)art, la littérature - copte et copto-arabe -, la linguistique, la liturgie, quelques champs dâe(tm)étude plus spécifiques qui méritent, au moins à certains intervalles de temps, une synthèse particulière. Ainsi en est-il de la codicologie (au sens large, incluant la paléographie), de lâe(tm)épigraphie, dont les développements récents recommandaient une synthèse présentée indépendamment du rapport de papyrologie; les études gnostiques et manichéennes ont été dissociées; en plus de celui dâe(tm)histoire de lâe(tm)art, un rapport a été réservé à lâe(tm)actualité des musées et expositions, en plein essor depuis plusieurs années. Si les recoupements entre les divers rapports sont inévitables, puisque chaque auteur est différent, les points de vue sur un même objet dâe(tm)étude se complètent sans se répéter. Enfin, les bibliographies détaillées qui accompagnent les synthèses font de ce volume un précieux instrument de travail.