Gardens and gardeners of the ancient world : [history, myth & archaeology] / Linda Farrar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Farrar, Linda, author.

Contributor:

JSTOR (Online Service)

Martin and Margy Meyerson Endowment Fund for the Built Environment.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gardens--History.

Gardens.

History.

Gardens--Design--History--To 1500.

Garden archaeology.

Gardens--Design.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 292 pages) : illustrations (some color

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Windgather Press, 2016.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

From the earliest of times people have sought to grow plants. Howeve, there is a fine distinction between the task of cultivating a garden to provide produce and making the area a more decorative one. The latter is the main focus of this book, which concentrates on gardens from the beginning of civilization to the fall of Byzantium in AD 1453. Linda Farrar takes us on a Grand Tour of ancient gardens. A surprising range of details is explored, revealing how people enjoyed fresh air and Plants growing in their gardens, how they used an and architecture to enhance garden spaces, and the myths and literature that give a valuable insight into the way they thought and used gardens. Gardens began as simple cultivated areas providing food. Some cultures maintained groves that were seen as gardens. Yet others created expansive tree filled areas stocked with game. But, to many societies, a garden was a walled enclosure that could contain either a variety of trees or a combination of trees and flowers that, when time and space allowed, became a place for relaxation and an extension of the home which could be embellished with structures and ornamented with specimen plants and sculptural objects Evidence of ancient gardening and garden art has survived in a variety of sources including contemporary illustrations such as fresco paintings, sculptural reliefs, mosaics, and manuscript paintings, which can be compared with descriptions surviving from ancient literary sources and inscriptions, be it a tale of a mythical garden or a real one. Such evidence for gardens can be corroborated through archaeological investigations. There is also a rich selection of legends and myths relating to gardens and their plants, adding much colour to our understanding of these earthly paradises. Book jacket.

Contents:

Egyptian gardens

Gardens of ancient Mesopotamia and the Near East

Gardens of the Greek Bronze Age: Minoan and Mycenaean cultures

Greek gardens and groves of the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods

Etruscan gardens

Roman gardens

Byzantine gardens

Islamic and Persian gardens

Medieval gardens

Conclusions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-292).

Electronic reproduction. New York Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Martin and Margy Meyerson Endowment Fund for the Built Environment.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781909686885

1909686883

Publisher Number:

99986491556

9781909686854

12397010

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.