This is the first systematic study of the cults of the Bosporan Kingdom, which existed in South Russia in the first centuries AD. The research is based on a variety of sources: archaeological evidence and inscriptions, largely unknown to the non-Russian readers, as well as historical and literary texts. The religion of the Bosporus is viewed in this monograph as a blend of Greek and indigenous Iranian traditions. Its first part is dedicated to the cult of Celestial Aphrodite. The second part examines the controversial cult of the Most High God and its alledged Jewish affinities. The book, illustrated with thirty figures, is an important contribution to the understanding of the religious life in Greek colonies, and the history of Eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity.

Studies about rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity that investigate the literary and archaeological evidence by which the evolution of the synagogue can be traced.

Drawing on evidence from archaeology, art history, and textual sources to contextualize Greco-Scythian metalwork in ancient society, Meyer offers unique introductions to the archaeology of Scythia and its ties to Asia and classical Greece, modern museum and visual culture studies, and the intellectual history of classics in Russia and the West.

Brill's Companion to Aphrodite brings together an international and multidisciplinary team of experts in the study of Aphrodite—one of the best known, yet ambiguous and complex Graeco-Roman deities. The contributions, which reevaluate conventional approaches to this remarkable goddess, are thematically grouped in four parts according to aspects of the goddess: 'Aphrodite’s Identity’; ‘Aphrodite's Companions and Relations’; ‘The Spread of Aphrodite’s Cults’ and ‘The Reception of the Goddess.’ Each part draws on literary and visual sources, incorporates Greek, Roman, and later material, and ranges across places and periods—from prehistoric Cyprus and the Near East to the antiquities market in 19th century France. This book therefore crosses interdisciplinary boundaries, as well as the multiple aspects and characteristics of the goddess

Through a close and informative reading of seven key texts in Acts, Kauppi analyses the appearances of Graeco-Roman religion, offering evidence of practices including divination and oracles, ruler cult and civic foundation myth. Foreign But Familiar Gods then uses a combination of these scriptural texts and other contemporary evidence (including archaeological and literary material) to suggest that one of Luke's subsidiary themes is to contrast Graeco-Roman and Christian religious conceptualizations and practices.

Private associations organized around a common cult, profession, ethnic identity, neighbourhood or family were common throughout the Greco-Roman antiquity, offering opportunities for sociability, cultic activities, mutual support and a context in which to display and recognize virtuous achievement. This second volume collects a representative selection of inscriptions from associations based on the North Coast of the Black Sea and in Asia Minor, published with English translations, brief explanatory notes, commentaries and full indices. This volume is essential for several areas of study: ancient patterns of social organization; the organization of diasporic communities in the ancient Mediterranean; models for the structure of early Christian groups; and forms of sociability, status-displays, and the vocabularies of virtue.

Anahita was the most important goddess of pre-Islamic Iran. From her roots as an ancient Indo-European water deity her status was unrivalled by any other Iranian goddess throughout the course of three successive Iranian empires over a period of a thousand years. The first scholarly book on Anahita, this study reconstructs the Indo-European water goddess through a comparison of Celtic, Slavic, Armenian and Indo-Iranian myths and rituals. Anahita's constantly-evolving description and functions are then traced through the written and iconographic records of Iranian societies from the Achaemenid period onwards, including but not limited to the Zoroastrian texts and the inscriptions and artistic representations of the great pre-Islamic Iranian empires. The study concludes by tracing survival of the goddess in Islamic Iran, as seen in new Persian literature and popular rituals. Manya Saadi-nejad demonstrates the close relationship between Iranian mythology and that of other Indo-European peoples, and the significant cultural continuities from Iran's pre-Islamic period into the Islamic present.

This fascinating book explores the evolution of religious dualism, the doctrine that man and cosmos are constant battlegrounds between forces of good and evil. It traces this evolution from late Egyptian religion and the revelations of Zoroaster and the Orphics in antiquity through the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mithraic Mysteries, and the great Gnostic teachers to its revival in medieval Europe with the suppression of the Bogomils and the Cathars, heirs to the age-long teachings of dualism. Integrating political, cultural, and religious history, Yuri Stoyanov illuminates the dualist religious systems, recreating in vivid detail the diverse worlds of their striking ideas and beliefs, their convoluted mythologies and symbolism. Reviews of an earlier edition: "A book of prime importance for anyone interested in the history of religious dualism. The author's knowledge of relevant original sources is remarkable; and he has distilled them into a convincing and very readable whole."--Sir Steven Runciman "The most fascinating historical detective story since Steven Runciman's Sicilian Vespers."--Colin Wilson "A splendid account of the decline of the dualist tradition in the East . . . both strong and accessible. . . . The most readable account of Balkan heresy ever."--Jeffrey B. Russell, Journal of Religion "Well-written, fact-filled, and fascinating . . . has in it the making of a classic." --Harry T. Norris, Bulletin of SOAS

Although angels are typically associated with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ancient Angels demonstrates that angels (angeloi) were also a prominent feature of non-Abrahamic religions in the Roman era. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the study uses literary, inscriptional, and archaeological evidence to examine Roman conceptions of angels, how residents of the empire venerated angels, and how Christian authorities responded to this potentially heterodox aspect of Roman religion. The book brings together the evidence for popular beliefs about angels in Roman religion, demonstrating the widespread nature of speculation about, and veneration of, angels in the Roman Empire

This book explores divine manifestations and their representations not only in art, but also in literature, histories and inscriptions. The cultural analysis of epiphany is set within a historical framework that examines its development from the archaic period through the Hellenistic world and into the Roman Empire.