Initially coined by art historians in the second half of the nineteenth century to denote an ambivalent artistic style and period, 'Orientalizing' has been invariably used to describe a phenomenon, a revolution, or a movement. Regional developments and innovations in the ancient Mediterranean have been explained by reference to an Orient, the metaphorical bazaar containing the artistic opulence and social sophistication that spread to the West and changed it. "Debating Ancient Orietalization" brings together papers presented at a symposium held in Oxford in 2002 to debate the theme of ancient Orientalization. The volume reassesses the concept of Orientalizing, questioning whether it is valid to interpret Mediterranean-wide processes of change in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages by the term Orientalization. Like the ancient Mediterranean itself, the list of contributors is multicultural, and their contributions multidisciplinary, combining various strands of archaeological and textual evidence with different methodological approaches.

About the Author
Corinna Riva is a Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow. Since 2002, she has been co-director of the Upper Esino Valley Survey in ancient Picenum, in eastern central Italy. Nicholas C. Vella is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta. He has been Assistant Director of the University of Malta excavations at the site of the Phoenician sanctuary at Tas-Silg in Malta since 2000.


Book Information
ISBN 9781845531928
Author Corinna Riva
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Equinox Publishing Ltd
Publisher Equinox Publishing Ltd