Saturday, March 23, 2019

Review of The Construction of Time in Antiquity (ed. Ben-Dov and Doering)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Jonathan Ben-Dov, Lutz Doering (ed.), The Construction of Time in Antiquity: Ritual, Art, and Identity. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. xii, 296. ISBN 9781107108967. £75.00. Reviewed by Kassandra Miller, Union College (millerk3@union.edu).
The Construction of Time in Antiquity, edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov and Lutz Doering, explores, in their words, "the relationship between time and human agency" (p. 3) as it is articulated within a variety of cultures (including Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian) and social contexts (political, legal, medical, historical, theological, and artistic). This volume celebrates the diverse and complex ways in which people shape—and are, in turn, shaped by—their own temporal concepts and structures. In addition to nuanced case studies, the thirteen contributing authors also present useful lenses and heuristics that will help future researchers to navigate this exciting, burgeoning field.
I noted the conference that was the basis for the book here.

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