The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (3-Volume Set)

About this book

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium is a three-volume comprehensive dictionary of Byzantine civilization. The first resource of its kind in the field it features over 5 000 entries written by an international group of eminent Byzantinists covering all aspects of life in the Byzantine world. According to Alexander Kazhdan editor-in-chief of the Dictionary: "Entries on patriarchy and emperors will coexist with entries on surgery and musical instruments. An entry on the cultivation of grain will not only be connected to entries on agriculture and its economics but on diet the baking of bread and the role of bread in this changing society." Major entries treat such topics as agriculture art literature and politics while shorter entries examine topics that relate to Byzantium such as the history of Kiev and personalities of ancient and biblical history. Each article is followed by a bibliography and numerous maps tables architectural designs and genealogies reinforce and clarify the text. The new Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium will be the standard research tool and reference work for Byzantinists from graduate students to advanced scholars and an essential resource for college and school libraries. It will also be an invaluable guide for classicists Western medievalists Islamicists Slavicists art historians religious historians and scholars of archaeology.