How were early Christians influenced by contemporary assumptions about ethnic and colour differences?
Why were early Christian writers so attracted to the subject of Blacks, Egyptians, and Ethiopians?
Looking at the neglected issue of race brings valuable new perspectives to the study of the ancient world; now Gay Byron's exciting work is the first to survey and theorise Blacks, Egyptians and Ethiopians in Christian antiquity.
By combining innovative theory and methodology with a detailed survey of early Christian writings, Byron shows how perceptions about ethnic and color...