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2006 Harvard University Press. Hardcover with dj. Minor shelf wear and edge wear. Light staining to dj. Otherwise in excellent shape. Binding is tight. Text is clean. ISBN: 9780674022928. Ready to ship. 2006 Harvard University Press. Hardcover with dj. Minor shelf wear and edge wear. Light staining to dj. Otherwise in excellent shape. Binding is tight. Text is clean. ISBN: 9780674022928. Ready to ship. See less
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Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam (Revealing Antiquity) Hardcover – Illustrated, November 15, 2006

by G. W. Bowersock (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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Over the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East--maps, historical images, mythical figures, and religious scenes that constitute an immense treasure of new testimony from antiquity. The stories these mosaics tell unfold in this brief, richly informed book by a preeminent scholar of the classical world.

G. W. Bowersock considers these mosaics a critical part of the documentation of the region's ancient culture, as expressive as texts, inscriptions on stone, and architectural remains. In their complex language, often marred by time, neglect, and deliberate defacement, he finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride. Eloquently evoking a shared vision of a world beyond the boundaries of individual cities, the mosaics attest to a persistent tradition of Greek taste that could embrace Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in a fundamentally Semitic land, and they suggest the extent to which these three monotheistic religions could themselves embrace Hellenism.

With copious color illustrations, Bowersock's efforts return us to Syrian Antioch, Arabia, Jewish and Samaritan settlements in Palestine, the Palmyrene empire in Syria, and the Nabataean kingdom in Jordan, and show us the overlay of Hellenism introduced by Alexander the Great as well as Roman customs imported by the imperial legions and governors. Attending to one of the most evocative languages of the ages, his work reveals a complex fusion of cultures and religions that speaks to us across time.

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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
  4. Publication date
    November 15, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780674022928
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0674022928
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“On the surface this may appear an esoteric and quaint study of an ancient artform, yet the author bestows it with a depth and significance that reaches right to the heart of ancient Near Eastern culture. Despite their great age, marred by neglect and sometimes deliberate vandalism, these mosaics indicate a complex fusion of cultures and religions, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, iconography, and monuments to civic pride. Bowersock's immense scholarship in this field, combined with a plethora of high quality, colour images, returns the reader to a time of relative peace and harmony in the Near East, when the regions we now know as Syria, Arabia, Palestine, and Jordan were united in a tradition of classicism which bound together Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in a fundamentally Semitic land.”―Antiques Magazine

“A large number of Roman-Byzantine floor mosaics have been unearthed in the Levant over the past few decades, and G.W. Bowersock's Mosaics as History presents a refreshing synthesis of this material...[T]his is a very good book that provides a long-awaited analysis of many new and recent mosaic discoveries across the most culturally diverse regions of the Roman-Byzantine world.”―Mark Merrony, Minerva

“This is a splendid book, well composed and closely reasoned...The author convincingly uses the mosaics and their depictions and inscriptions as an important source for understanding late antiquity in the Near East. All the way through, Bowersock emphasizes the contexts―the connection between literature and various groups of material culture―an approach that cannot be encouraged enough.”―Birte Poulsen, American Journal of Archaeology

“No one is better qualified to instill in his readers the sense of wide horizons and of unexpected continuities between cultures that are usually held to be irrevocably divided than Glen Bowersock. His recent book, Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam, is an iridescent masterpiece. A vast weight of erudition, unflinchingly precise, is brought to bear on a few crucial (and hitherto unconsidered) problems to produce a book that has the sharpness and the shimmer of an industrial diamond. The clarity, economy, and charm of Bowersock's writing make us forget the iron discipline on which his scrutiny of the evidence is based and the devastating effect of his conclusions on all kinds of conventional wisdom. It is the work of an urbane iconoclast...Those who wish to understand more about the deep and complex history of the Near East in all ages, our own included, would be well advised to read Bowersock's book...Only the sharp tang of scholarship like Bowersock's, devoted to a seemingly distant past, can clean our eyes, a little, of the itch of modern pseudohistory, of modern stereotypes, and of modern hatreds, so that we can view the present, if not with comfort, then at least with clarity.”―Peter Brown, New York Review of Books

About the Author

G. W. Bowersock is Professor Emeritus of Ancient History at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0674022920
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press; Illustrated edition (November 15, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780674022928
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674022928
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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G. W. Bowersock

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard I. Pervo
5.0 out of 5 stars peaceable kingdom
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2011
Verified Purchase
B. is an outstanding historian of late antiquity, noted for his own style and views. His most noteworthy thesis is the emphasis upon the generally peaceful and prosperous nature of the near east in late antiquity. Through mosaics recovered in the past century he shows how robust Hellenism remained and the lack of animosity among two, then three monotheistic religions. His study of the impact and source of iconoclasm is interesting.
All B's work must be taken seriously. This tour de force shows what can be gleaned from reflection upon these mosaics.
(Disclosure: took a graduate seminar at Harvard on the Roman East directed by B. 1in 1971.)
4 people found this helpful
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Clifford A. Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars superlative history of late antiquity
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2008
The two negative reviews of this extremely learned study are so far off the mark I must honestly doubt that either reviewer actually read the book. And if they did, it was over their heads as witness their inability to actually write a review. I agree entirely with the review by the New York Review of Books (see above). By looking at newly discovered and older mosaics from late antiquity as more than just expressions of art Bowersock shows how the mosaics illustrate the society of an age. From the images we can understand the uses of Hellenism among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, as well as pagans with a startling clarity. The mosaics show the entertainments of mime and pantomime and show great urban centers as places in a greater community of shared traditions. The coherence and tolerance in this eastern Mediterranean world explains the deep peace that most of Palestine, Syria, and Transjordan enjoyed over many centuries. Bowersock shows that the late antique Near East was a kind of miracle in terms of deeply rooted cultures interacting in peaceful ways. This is a must book for anyone interested in art history or Middle Eastern history.
26 people found this helpful
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laolaohu
4.0 out of 5 stars remarkable little book
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2013
This is a remarkable little book, and it is too bad that many readers will never even hear about it, much less read it. Based on a series of lectures, the author reveals how, through study of surviving mosaics from the Near East, he has been able to tease out information concerning the geography, mythology, and interactions between the various social and religious cultures of the region in the critical period when Islam was first arising on the scene. I am no expert in this particular period of history, and so cannot vouch for the accuracy of his conclusions, but I can state that they are both well thought out and plausible. And oh yes, well written on top of that.

I will say that I do not believe the transition to Arab rule was quite as smooth as this text makes it appear -- after all, even if the Christians did deface their own images, it was obviously under strong pressure from the outside -- but on the other hand, as the author shows, neither was it the bloodbath in the desert as is so often assumed. If you are at all interested in the Middle East, then you should read this book.

Oh, and I haven't even said anything yet about the pictures. But the pictures themselves are worth the price of admission.
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sammick
2.0 out of 5 stars could be a better book
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2008
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This with a bit of work this could have been a good book--

The text just doesn't flow--the information is hard to retrieve and there is no coherence--

The photos are good, but the book demands a larger format--
3 people found this helpful
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Kate da Costa
5.0 out of 5 stars Serious history in very readable form
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2010
It is astounding how Bowersock, one of the greatest historians of late Antiquity writing today, can cover so much important ground in such a short book. This is not a superficial picture book about mosaics, it is a scholarly examination of how mosaics can be used in new ways to tell us more about ancient lives. I refer interested readers to the long, and useful, review on the Bryn Mawr Classical Review site: [...]
4 people found this helpful
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Charles S. Chapin
1.0 out of 5 stars MOsaics in history
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2008
The product was shipped timely and was received in good order. The book, in itself, was a great disappointment.
One person found this helpful
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Bob Shea
5.0 out of 5 stars Comment below
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2013
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This feedback box is really really irritating. If I don't want to leave any written feedback, which i do not want to, i should not be forced to do so. After today, I will not rate suppliers anymore - which is not my preferred option. Wake up, Amazon.
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