Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam (Revealing Antiquity)

About this book

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 regions 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 Bowersocks 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.