Description
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology brings together expert work by leading scholars of the archaeology of Early Christianity and the Roman world in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. The thirty-four contributions to this volume survey Christian material culture and ground the history, culture, and society of the first seven centuries of Christianity in archaeological method, theory, and research. The essays emphasize the link between archaeological fieldwork, methods, and regional and national traditions in constructing our knowledge of the Early Church and Christian communities within the context of the ancient Mediterranean, Near East, and Europe. Three sweeping introductory essays provide historical perspectives on the archaeology of the Early Christian world. These are followed by a series of topical treatments that focus on monuments and environments ranging from Christian churches to catacombs, martyria, and baths, as well as classes of objects of religious significance such as ceramics, lamps, and icons. Finally, the volume locates the archaeology of the Early Christian world in fifteen regional studies stretching from Britain to Persia, highlighting the unique historical contexts that have shaped scholarly discussion across time and space. The thorough, carefully-researched essays offer the most intensive, state-of-the-art treatment of recent research into the archaeology of Early Christianity available.
About the Author
David K. Pettegrew is a scholar of the ancient Mediterranean and Early Christian world. He has participated in and directed archaeological research programs in the United States, Greece, and Cyprus, and authored articles and books on Greek, Roman, and Late Antique cities and landscapes. William R. Caraher is an associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota. His interests include the archaeology of Late Antique and Early Christian worlds and the archaeology of contemporary America. Thomas W. Davis is an archaeologist with more than three decades of field experience in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and the United States. A specialist in the New Testament world of Paul, he served as Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Reviews
Oxford remains at the vanguard of well-researched topical summaries. Pettegrew, Caraher, and Davis are to be commended for offering an impressive range of interdisciplinary voices and expanding both the thematic and geographical horizons of archaeological investigations into Christian origins. * Church History *
With thirty-four essays and dozens of images and illustrations, this is an outstanding resource, both for scholars in the field and for use by teachers hoping to cast light on the oft-overlooked material culture of the New Testament and the early church. * Religious Studies Review *
This book is a timely and well-crafted contribution to the field of early Christian studies.... This handbook succeeds in showing the best of the field as it is today - a rigorous, holistic field that employs cutting-edge theory and methods.... The handbook will serve well as a primary entry point for students, scholars, and the general public interested in the field. It succeeds in presenting the archaeology of Late Antique Christianity as it is today, a field that has gotten past early problems in aims and methods and is now firmly rooted in 21st-century archaeology. The volume reflects an exciting moment of experimentation and broadening horizons. * American Journal of Archaeology *
Presenting a lush harvest of several decades of archaeological exploration of materials documenting the Christian faith, this Oxford Handbook offers fascinating snapshots of the lived reality of early Christianity.... The editors are to be congratulated for having assembled a highly readable collection that demonstrates both the good use to which the handbook-genre can be put as well as - and more importantly - the vitality and significance of the study of material remains that are relics of the lives of Christians in the long first half millennium CE. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
remains a tremendous reference for those interested in the field * and also interested in Christian origins and church history ... [it] will serve as a benchmark survey for years to come.Jamin Andreas Hubner, Reading Religion *
This book will be a useful reference work for scholars and students of various backgrounds. * J. H. F. Dijkstra, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197625316
Author David K. Pettegrew
Format Paperback
Page Count 736
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1179g
Dimensions(mm) 170mm * 241mm * 36mm
About the Author
David K. Pettegrew is a scholar of the ancient Mediterranean and Early Christian world. He has participated in and directed archaeological research programs in the United States, Greece, and Cyprus, and authored articles and books on Greek, Roman, and Late Antique cities and landscapes. William R. Caraher is an associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota. His interests include the archaeology of Late Antique and Early Christian worlds and the archaeology of contemporary America. Thomas W. Davis is an archaeologist with more than three decades of field experience in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and the United States. A specialist in the New Testament world of Paul, he served as Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Reviews
Oxford remains at the vanguard of well-researched topical summaries. Pettegrew, Caraher, and Davis are to be commended for offering an impressive range of interdisciplinary voices and expanding both the thematic and geographical horizons of archaeological investigations into Christian origins. * Church History *
With thirty-four essays and dozens of images and illustrations, this is an outstanding resource, both for scholars in the field and for use by teachers hoping to cast light on the oft-overlooked material culture of the New Testament and the early church. * Religious Studies Review *
This book is a timely and well-crafted contribution to the field of early Christian studies.... This handbook succeeds in showing the best of the field as it is today - a rigorous, holistic field that employs cutting-edge theory and methods.... The handbook will serve well as a primary entry point for students, scholars, and the general public interested in the field. It succeeds in presenting the archaeology of Late Antique Christianity as it is today, a field that has gotten past early problems in aims and methods and is now firmly rooted in 21st-century archaeology. The volume reflects an exciting moment of experimentation and broadening horizons. * American Journal of Archaeology *
Presenting a lush harvest of several decades of archaeological exploration of materials documenting the Christian faith, this Oxford Handbook offers fascinating snapshots of the lived reality of early Christianity.... The editors are to be congratulated for having assembled a highly readable collection that demonstrates both the good use to which the handbook-genre can be put as well as - and more importantly - the vitality and significance of the study of material remains that are relics of the lives of Christians in the long first half millennium CE. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
remains a tremendous reference for those interested in the field * and also interested in Christian origins and church history ... [it] will serve as a benchmark survey for years to come.Jamin Andreas Hubner, Reading Religion *
This book will be a useful reference work for scholars and students of various backgrounds. * J. H. F. Dijkstra, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197625316
Author David K. Pettegrew
Format Paperback
Page Count 736
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1179g
Dimensions(mm) 170mm * 241mm * 36mm
