Animals had an ubiquitous and central presence in the ancient world. A Cultural History of Animals In Antiquity presents an extraordinarily broad assessment of animal cultures from 2500 BCE to 1000 CE, describing how animals were an intrinsic part of the spiritual life of ancient society, how they were hunted, domesticated and used for entertainment, and the roles animals played in ancient science and philosophy.

Since much of what we know about animals in antiquity is gleaned from the images left by our ancestors, the book presents a wealth of illustrations. Seminal ancient...