Enigma in Rus and Medieval Slavic Cultures is a thematic essay volume to investigate the history and function of enigma in Orthodox Slavic cultures with a special focus on the cultural history of Rus and Muscovy. Its seventeen case studies across disciplinary boundaries analyze Slavic biblical and patristic translations, liturgical commentaries, occult divinatory texts, and dream interpretations. Slavic riddles inscribed on walls and compilations of riddles in question-and-answer format are all subjects of this volume. Not only written, but also pictorial enigmas are examined, together with...

This volume explores the power of matter and materials in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium. Recent attention to matter as dynamic and meaningful constitutes an emerging, interdisciplinary field of inquiry known as materiality, new materialism, or the material turn. Materials can be symbolic, but matter can also act on human subjects. This volume builds on these insights to consider the role of matter, materials, form, and embodied experiences in Byzantium. In many respects, Byzantine materiality represents a continuation of its Greco-Roman inheritance, which was also shared...