Accompanying CD-ROM, in pocket at end of v. 2, contains ... "Supplementary images."--CD-ROM label.

Rich account of life over four centuries in a village of Roman Egypt incorporating recent archaeological and textual discoveries.

This volume is devoted to the publication of forty five Coptic documents written on papyri and boards, found in the ruins of houses at Kellis, the Roman predecessor of the village of Ismant el-Kharab in the Dakhleh Oasis. The documents date from the fourth century AD and relate to the domestic life of the people over at least two generations. Most of the documents are personal letters, and many of them have a Manichaean content reflecting the beliefs of the writers; there are also several business accounts. The documents are transcribed and translated with commentary and there is an introduction setting them in context, and discussing the people who wrote them. A second volume of similar documents is in preparation.

Introduction: Mani's Church and Social Life -- Life in Kellis: Society and Religion in an Oasis Town -- The Pamour Family: Familial and Economic Networks -- Village Networks: The Small World of Fourth-Century Kellis -- Manichaean Cues: Religious Identity in Everyday Life -- Manichaean Networks: The Social Networks of the Laity at Kellis -- Manichaean Books: Textual Practices, Community, and the Literary Texts -- Manichaean Rituals: Elect and Laity at Kellis -- The Manichaean Church: Elect Organisation -- Conclusion: A Church in the World.

This volume presents the results of a 2017 workshop at the Centre for Textile Research (CTR), University of Copenhagen, an event within the framework of the MONTEX project-including support from a Marie Sk

Modern interpretation of the Manichaean religious tradition requires a firm foundation in the sober and meticulous reconstruction of highly fragmentary sources. The studies collected in this volume contribute to such a foundation by bringing new primary texts to the public for the first time, extracting new data from previously known sources, and defining and delimiting important but previously neglected sets of material. The studies are authored by an international group of leading scholars in the fields of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies, comparative religion, early Christianity, patristics, art history, Turkic studies and Coptology. The textual and art historical materials examined possess distinctive histories, character and significance representing the broad geographical range of Manichaeism from Algeria to China. By elucidating these essential remains of the Manichaean religion, the comprehensive treatments contained in Emerging from Darkness provide a provocative picture of Manichaeism as a diverse and productive tradition in a variety of settings and media. The volume will be foundational for future scholarly studies on the sources presented and for studies in Manichaeism and late antique religions in general.

Provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100-600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in Western and Eastern late antiquity. --from publisher description.

Accompanying CD-ROM, in pocket at end of v. 2, contains ... "Supplementary images."--CD-ROM label.

Drawing on a wide array of sources, this anthology sets out to analyze the concepts of mystery and secrecy that occur in the ritual and rhetoric of antique Mediterranean religion, with an emphasis on Gnosticism, Christianity, and Paganism.