Writing on the wall : graffiti and the forgotten Jews of antiquity / Karen B. Stern.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stern, Karen B., author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Graffiti--Palestine.

Graffiti.

Graffiti--Mediterranean Region.

Jewish inscriptions.

Jewish art and symbolism--Palestine.

Jewish art and symbolism.

Mediterranean Region.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 283 pages : illustrations, maps, plans ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, ]2018].

Summary:

"Prevailing perspectives on ancient Jewish life have been shaped largely by the voices of intellectual and social elites, preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus and the rabbinic texts of the Mishnah and Talmud. Commissioned art, architecture, and formal inscriptions displayed on tombs and synagogues equally reflect the sensibilities of their influential patrons. The perspectives and sentiments of nonelite Jews, by contrast, have mostly disappeared from the historical record. Focusing on these forgotten Jews of antiquity, 'Writing on the Wall' takes an unprecedented look at the vernacular inscriptions and drawings they left behind and sheds new light on the richness of their quotidian lives. Just like their neighbors throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, ancient Jews scribbled and drew graffiti everyplace--in and around markets, hippodromes, theaters, pagan temples, open cliffs, sanctuaries, and even inside burial caves and synagogues. Karen Stern reveals what these markings tell us about the men and women who made them, people whose lives, beliefs, and behaviors eluded commemoration in grand literary and architectural works. Making compelling analogies with modern graffiti practices, she documents the overlooked connections between Jews and their neighbors, showing how popular Jewish practices of prayer, mortuary commemoration, commerce, and civic engagement regularly crossed ethnic and religious boundaries."--Publisher information.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Carving Graffiti as Devotion 35

Chapter 2 Mortuary Graffiti in the Roman East 80

Chapter 3 Making One's Mark in a Pagan and Christian World 141

Chapter 4 Rethinking Modern Graffiti through Ancient 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-268) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780691161334

069116133X

OCLC:

1035751711