Preliminary material -- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING AND PAINTINGS -- THE ICONOGRAPHY AND THE DATING OF THE PAINTINGS -- THE RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION OF THE MITHRAEUM AND ITS PAINTINGS -- INDEX -- LIST OF PLATES -- PLATE.

Preliminary material -- LO SCAVO -- L'EDIFICIO DEL MITREO -- IL MITREO (PRIMA FASE) -- IL MITREO (SECONDA FASE) -- I TRE VANI A SUD DEL MITREO -- IMPORTANZA DEL MITREO DEI CASTRA PEREGRINORUM -- INDEX -- ELENCO DELLE TAVOLE -- TAVOLA.

Preliminary material /Maarten J. Vermaseren -- EINFÜHRUNG IN DIE GESCHICHTE UND NEUE PERSPEKTIVEN /CARSTEN COLPE -- RÖMISCHE RELIGION UND RELIGIÖSER UMBRUCH /H. S. VERSNEL -- KLEINASIEN HERKUNFTSLAND ORIENTALISCHER GOTTHEITEN /FRIEDRICH KARL DÖRNER -- MITHRAS IN DER RÖMERZEIT /MAARTEN J. VERMASEREN -- ISIS UND SARAPIS /LADISLAV VIDMAN -- ANDERE ÄGYPTISCHE GOTTHEITEN /GÜNTHER HÖLBL -- IUPITER DOLICHENUS /ELMAR SCHWERTHEIM -- JUPITER HELIOPOLITANUS /YOUSSEF HAJJAR -- DIE DEA SYRIA UND ANDERE SYRISCHE GOTTHEITEN IM IMPERIUM ROMANUM /HAN J. W. DRIJVERS -- KYBELE UND ATTIS /GABRIEL SANDERS -- ARTEMIS EPHESIA UND APHRODITE VON APHRODISIAS /ROBERT FLEISCHER -- DER SABAZIOS-KULT /RUDOLF FELLMANN -- MYSTERIEN (IN KULT UND RELIGION) UND PHILOSOPHIE /HEINRICH DÖRRIE -- FRÜHCHRISTLICHE RELIGION /ROELOF VAN DEN BROEK -- AUSEINANDERSETZUNG DES CHRISTENTUMS MIT DER UMWELT /BERNHARD KÖTTING -- GNOSIS /GILLES QUISPEL -- DER MANICHÄISMUS /ALEXANDER BÖHLIG -- DAS JUDENTUM /HANNELORE KÜNZL -- PAPYRI MAGICAE GRAECAE UND MAGISCHE GEMMEN /JACQUES SCHWARTZ -- THRAKISCHE UND DANUBISCHE REITERGÖTTER /MANFRED OPPERMANN -- INDEX /Maarten J. Vermaseren -- VERZEICHNIS DER IM TEXT GENANNTEN GEOGRAPHISCHEN NAMEN (KARTEN I UND II) /Maarten J. Vermaseren -- Geographische Karten I und II /Maarten J. Vermaseren -- ÉTUDES PRÉLIMINAIRES AUX RELIGIONS ORIENTALES DANS L'EMPIRE ROMAIN /Maarten J. Vermaseren.

This study of the Protevangelium of James explores the interrelationship of authors, readers, texts, and meaning. Its central aim is to better understand how the process of repetition gave rise to the narratives of the early Christian movement, and how that process continued to fuel the creativity and imagination of future generations. Divided into three parts, Vanden Eykel addresses first specific episodes in the life of the Virgin, consisting of Mary's childhood in the Jerusalem temple (PJ 7-9), her spinning thread for the temple veil (PJ 10-12), and Jesus' birth in a cave outside Bethlehem (PJ 17-20). The three episodes present a uniform picture of how the reader's discernment of intertexts can generate new layers of meaning, and that these layers may reveal new aspects of the author's meaning, some of which the author may not have anticipated.

Preliminary material /M. J. Vermaseren -- GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MITHRAEUM AT PONZA /M. J. Vermaseren -- THE INTERPRETATION OF THE MITHRAEUM /M. J. Vermaseren -- GENERAL INDEX /M. J. Vermaseren -- LIST OF PLATES /M. J. Vermaseren -- PLATES I-XXXIV /M. J. Vermaseren.

"Divine interiors" is een onderzoek naar de aankleding van Griekse en Romeinse heiligdommen met wandschilderingen. Machtige marmeren façades, beeldhouwwerken en schilderingen speelden een belangrijke rol in het aanzien van deze monumenten. Terwijl de officiële tempels, die met de steden of de staat waren verbonden, meestal een plechtige maar sobere uitstraling hadden, waren de gebouwen die gericht waren op meer volkse uitingen van religiositeit juist bont beschilderd. Scènes uit het leven van de vereerde godheid, aanhangers en beoefenaren van de cultus, planten en dieren konden de bezoekers van deze heiligdommen in hogere sferen brengen. Het valt op dat er in de uitgestrekte Grieks-Romeinse wereld veel overeenkomsten te vinden zijn tussen vaak ver van elkaar gelegen tempels. De muurschilderkunst kende net als andere kunstvormen stijl- en smaakveranderingen, maar die hadden wel overal dezelfde uitstraling.

Ritual, magic, liturgy, and theurgy were central features of Gnosticism, and yet Gnostic practices remain understudied. This anthology is meant to fill in this gap and address more fully what the ancient Gnostics were doing. While previously we have studied the Gnostics as intellectuals in pursuit of metaphysical knowledge, the essays in this book attempt to understand the Gnostics as ecstatics striving after religious experience, as prophets seeking revelation, as mystics questing after the ultimate God, as healers attempting to care for the sick and diseased. These essays demonstrate that the Gnostics were not necessarily trendy intellectuals seeking epistomological certainities. They were after religious experiences that relied on practices. The book is organized comparatively in a history-of-religions approach with sections devoted to Initiatory, Recurrent, Therapeutic, Ecstatic, and Philosophic Practices. This book celebrates the brilliant career of Birger A. Pearson.