Eschatology in Antiquity: Forms and Functions (Rewriting Antiquity)

This collection of essays explores the rhetoric and practices surrounding views on life after death and the end of the world, including the fate of the individual, apocalyptic speculation and hope for cosmological renewal, in a wide range of societies from Ancient Mesopotamia to the Byzantine era.

The 42 essays by leading scholars in each field explore the rich spectrum of ways in which eschatological understanding can be expressed, and for which purposes it can be used. Readers will gain new insight into the historical contexts, details, functions and impact of eschatological ideas and imagery in ancient texts and material culture from the twenty-fifth century BCE to the ninth century CE. Traditionally, the study of “eschatology” (and related concepts) has been pursued mainly by scholars of Jewish and Christian scripture. By broadening the disciplinary scope but remaining within the clearly defined geographical milieu of the Mediterranean, this volume enables its readers to note comparisons and contrasts, as well as exchanges of thought and transmission of eschatological ideas across Antiquity. Cross-referencing, high quality illustrations and extensive indexing contribute to a rich resource on a topic of contemporary interest and relevance.

Eschatology in Antiquity is aimed at readers from a wide range of academic disciplines, as well as non-specialists including seminary students and religious leaders. The primary audience will comprise researchers in relevant fields including Biblical Studies, Classics and Ancient History, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Art History, Late Antiquity, Byzantine Studies and Cultural Studies. Care has been taken to ensure that the essays are accessible to undergraduates and those without specialist knowledge of particular subject areas.

Hilary Marlow is Fellow, Director of Studies and Tutor at Girton College, Cambridge, UK, and teaches Hebrew Bible in the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, UK. Her research interests include nature in the Hebrew Bible, ecology and the Bible and prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible. She is author of Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics (2009) and numerous articles and essays.

Karla Pollmann is Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol, UK, and Professor of Classics and Theology. She is also an honorary member of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Green College, UBC, Vancouver, Canada. Her research interests span Classical and Late Antique literature and culture, and their reception. In 2020, she was awarded a Humboldt Research Prize in recognition of her internationally leading work. Major publications include The Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine, 3 vols (2013) as Editor-in-Chief, and The Baptized Muse (2017).

Helen Van Noorden is Senior Lecturer in Classics and Wrigley Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge, UK, and in 2020–2022 is Associate Professor and AIAS-COFUND Fellow at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Denmark. She is the author of Playing Hesiod: the ‘Myth of the Races’ in Classical Antiquity (2015). Her current focus is a monograph study and translation of Books 3–5 of the Sibylline Oracles.