This volume focuses on religion during the period of Roman imperial rule and its significance in women's lives. It discusses the variety of religious expression, from pagan cults and classical mythology to ancient Judaism and early Christianity, and the wide array of religious functions fulfilled by women. The author analyzes examples from each context, creating an image of this crucial period which laid the foundations of western civilization. The study considers the concepts of religion and of women in the light of post-modern critique.

This volume focuses on religion during the period of Roman imperial rule and its significance in women's lives. It discusses the variety of religious expression, from pagan cults and classical mythology to ancient Judaism and early Christianity, and the wide array of religious functions fulfilled by women. The author analyzes examples from each context, creating an image of this crucial period which laid the foundations of western civilization. The study considers the concepts of religion and of women in the light of post-modern critique.

Spinoza is a key figure in modern philosophy. Ethics is his most studied and well known work. Being both up-to-date and clear, this Guidebook is designed to lead the reader through this complex seminal text.
Spinoza's Ethics introduces and assess:
* Spinoza'a life, and its connection with his thought
* The text of the Ethics
* Spinoza's continuing relevence to contemporary philosophy

Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts is the first comprehensive study of the role of languages and texts in the religions of the Greco-Roman world, including Judaism and Christianity.
It explores bilingualism, language learning, literacy, book production and translation, as well as some of the more explicitly religious factors, including beliefs about language, missionary zeal, ritual, conservatism and the power of a priestly establishment.
Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts sheds new light on the role of the power of words, spoken and written, in religion.

Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts is the first comprehensive study of the role of languages and texts in the religions of the Greco-Roman world, including Judaism and Christianity.
It explores bilingualism, language learning, literacy, book production and translation, as well as some of the more explicitly religious factors, including beliefs about language, missionary zeal, ritual, conservatism and the power of a priestly establishment.
Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts sheds new light on the role of the power of words, spoken and written, in religion.

This work charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. The author analyzes the varied burial rituals and examines the different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered are: Osiris and Isis: the life theology of Ancient Egypt; burying the Jewish dead; Roman religion and Roman funerals; early Christian burial; and the nature of martyrdom. Jon Davies also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to and overview of death, burial and the afterlife in the first Christian...

This work charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. The author analyzes the varied burial rituals and examines the different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered are: Osiris and Isis: the life theology of Ancient Egypt; burying the Jewish dead; Roman religion and Roman funerals; early Christian burial; and the nature of martyrdom. Jon Davies also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to and overview of death, burial and the afterlife in the first Christian...

Scholars have defined holiness in many ways. These range from the vague and ethereal adjective numinous to practical matters of ritual purity. When a pile of grain and God can both be called holy, how should we understand the elusive meaning of this word?

Scholars have defined holiness in many ways. These range from the vague and ethereal adjective numinous to practical matters of ritual purity. When a pile of grain and God can both be called holy, how should we understand the elusive meaning of this word?

This volume demonstrates that the word magic was widely employed in late antique texts as part of polemical attacks on enemies - but at the simplest level it was merely a term used for other people's rituals. The study begins by analyzing Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman uses of the term in the first three centuries AD. The author then turns to a series of in-depth examples of magical practice - exorcisms, love rites, alchemy and the transformation of humans into divine beings, examining how such rituals were thought to work. The book ends with an exploration of issues of gender and magic,...