From Hellenism to Islam: Cultural and Linguistic Change in the Roman Near East

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Figures......Page 10
Tables......Page 11
Contributors......Page 12
Preface......Page 16
THE INSCRIPTIONS......Page 20
Abbreviations......Page 23
Introduction: documentary evidence, social realities and the history of language......Page 33
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 43
I. The language of power: Latin in the Roman Near East......Page 45
CHAPTER 1 The presence, role and significance of Latin in the epigraphy and culture of the Roman Near East......Page 47
EPHESUS......Page 55
PERGE......Page 61
HELIOPOLIS......Page 64
CAESAREA MARITIMA......Page 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 72
CHAPTER 2 Latin in cities of the Roman Near East......Page 75
HELIOPOLIS-BAALBEK......Page 81
BERYTUS......Page 85
CAESAREA-ON-THE-SEA......Page 87
AELIA CAPITOLINA......Page 92
BOSTRA......Page 93
GERASA......Page 94
PETRA......Page 95
ARADOS......Page 96
MILITARY PRESENCE......Page 97
CONCLUSIONS......Page 98
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 100
II. Social and legal institutions as reflected in the documentary evidence......Page 105
CHAPTER 3 Euergetism in Josephus and the epigraphic culture of first-century Jerusalem......Page 107
JOSEPHUS ON EUERGETISM......Page 111
THE JEWISH CONSTITUTION......Page 112
JOSEPHUS ON EUERGETISM......Page 119
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 121
CHAPTER 4 Legal and social status of threptoi and related categories in narrative and documentary sources......Page 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 142
SAXA LOQUUNTUR: THE EPIGRAPHY OF ORAL PERFORMANCE......Page 147
CURSES, PRAYERS FOR JUSTICE AND OATHS: RITUALISED PUBLIC APPEAL TO DIVINE JUSTICE......Page 154
CESSION OF DISPUTED PROPERTY TO THE GODS......Page 160
RITUALS OF DIVINATION TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DIVINE WRATH......Page 162
RITUALS OF ATONEMENT I: PUBLIC CONFESSION......Page 166
RITUALS OF ATONEMENT II: ‘EXTERNAL’ ACTS OF ATONEMENT (TRIPHONON, ENNEAPHONON)......Page 169
RITUALS OF ATONEMENT III: ACCLAMATIONS AND PUBLIC PRAISE OF THE GODS......Page 171
RITUALS OF ATONEMENT IV: ERECTION OF THE STELE…......Page 172
CROSSING BOUNDARIES: BETWEEN LOCAL PARTICULARITIES AND GENERAL TRENDS......Page 174
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 180
CHAPTER 6 Continuity of Nabataean law in the Petra papyri: a methodological exercise......Page 186
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 202
III. The epigraphic language of religion......Page 207
CHAPTER 7 ‘Languages’ and religion in second- to fourth-century Palestine: in search of the impact of Rome......Page 209
NORMS FOR MEASURING ROME’S IMPACT......Page 211
THE INADEQUACY OF PUBLIC FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AS A MARKER......Page 213
LANGUAGE AS A PARTIAL MARKER......Page 216
LANGUAGE IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS......Page 220
ROMAN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES – PRACTICES OF ROMANS......Page 223
CONCLUSION......Page 225
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 226
CHAPTER 8 The epigraphic habit and the Jewish diasporas of Asia Minor and Syria......Page 235
THE EPIGRAPHIC HABIT......Page 236
THE USE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF INSCRIPTIONS......Page 238
LOCAL IDENTITIES......Page 244
RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES......Page 248
THE END OF THE EPIGRAPHIC HABIT IN ASIA MINOR......Page 250
THE EPIGRAPHIC HABIT IN SYRIA......Page 251
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 265
CHAPTER 9 Religion and language in Dura-Europos......Page 267
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 282
IV. Linguistic metamorphoses and continuity of cultures......Page 287
DYING LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTIC SEAMS......Page 289
DYING LANGUAGES......Page 294
LINGUISTIC SEAMS......Page 298
GRECO-LATIN......Page 302
APPROACHES TO TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THE BIBLE IN RABBINIC LITERATURE......Page 307
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 317
CHAPTER 11 Edessene Syriac inscriptions in late antique Syria......Page 321
ABBREVIATIONS......Page 329
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 333
THE MOUNT GERIZIM INSCRIPTIONS......Page 335
SAMARITAN INSCRIBED POTTERY LAMPS......Page 336
Catalogue......Page 337
The capital from Emmaus......Page 343
The lintel from Beit el-Ma......Page 346
SAMARITAN SYNAGOGUE MOSAIC INSCRIPTIONS......Page 347
SAMARITAN BRONZE AMULETS, RINGS AND BRACELETS......Page 349
THE EMERGENCE OF THE SAMARITAN SCRIPT......Page 350
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 353
CHAPTER 13 The Jewish magical tradition from late antique Palestine to the Cairo Genizah......Page 356
THE MAGICAL TEXTS FROM THE CAIRO GENIZAH: A BRIEF OVERVIEW......Page 357
EARLY AND LATE IN GENIZAH MAGICAL TEXTS......Page 360
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JEWISH MAGICAL TRADITION FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE CAIRO GENIZAH......Page 371
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 372
V. Greek into Arabic......Page 375
CHAPTER 14 The Nabataean connection of the Benei Hezir......Page 377
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 382
CHAPTER 15 Greek inscriptions in transition from the Byzantine to the early Islamic period......Page 384
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 400
CHAPTER 16 Arab kings, Arab tribes and the beginnings of Arab historical memory in late Roman epigraphy......Page 406
‘Arab’ kings and ‘Arab’ tribes......Page 407
Arabic......Page 410
‘Arabs’ and Saracens......Page 411
Greater involvement of ‘Arabs’ in the imperial system......Page 412
Movements of tribes......Page 416
Conclusion......Page 425
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 428
Functional domains of languages and the difference between spoken and written language......Page 433
Language change in the Egyptian-Coptic language......Page 434
Who spoke, and eventually wrote, Coptic?......Page 436
Greek loan words in Demotic......Page 438
Greek loanwords in Coptic......Page 440
Early attempts to write Egyptian in Greek letters......Page 442
Old-Coptic writing systems......Page 444
Earliest Coptic glosses and texts......Page 445
The religious significance of Coptic......Page 446
Conclusion......Page 448
What does ‘final stage of Coptic’ mean?......Page 449
Arabic texts written by Christian authors......Page 450
Last texts composed in Coptic language......Page 451
Arabic loanwords in Coptic texts......Page 454
First witness: Pseudo-Samuel of Qalamûn, apocalyptic......Page 458
Second witness: Pseudo-Sâwîrus ibn al-Muqaffa\', theologian......Page 459
Third witness: Athanasius of Qûs, language teacher......Page 460
Conclusion: What is actually said?......Page 461
THE LANGUAGE DEATH OF COPTIC: SOME RECENT APPROACHES......Page 462
EXCURSUS: LANGUAGE DEATH FROM A SOCIOLINGUISTIC POINT OF VIEW......Page 464
SOME PROVISIONAL SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONCLUSIONS......Page 465
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 467
CHAPTER 18 ‘What remains behind’: Hellenism and Romanitas in Christian Egypt after the Arab conquest......Page 479
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 495
Index......Page 499