Greek Baths and Bathing Culture (Paperback)

Paperback. This volume is the outcome of the first conference to take place on thetopic of Greek baths and bathing culture, a central but hithertoneglected area in the field of ancient studies. Fifteen papers by aninternational group of archaeologists, art historians and ancienthistorians discuss Greek bathing culture from a socio-historical andcultural-anthropological perspective, resulting in a comprehensivereassessment that elucidates the sophistication of both the architectureand the culture of bathing throughout the Greek world.Individual papers examine bathing in the context of science, medicineand the cultural discourses coded in images on vases, while the majorityfocus on the archaeological evidence itself, as the crucial component inthis reassessment that removes Greek baths from the traditional categoryof primitive predecessors to Roman baths. From Greece and Egypt in theeast, to Sicily, southern Italy and France in the west, new informationfrom recent excavations is brought to bear on a wide range of relatedissues, including urban contexts, regional variations in experimentaldesign and construction, innovations in technology, and the socialmeaning of the rise of bathing culture in the Hellenistic period. Thisbetter understanding of Greek baths adds a crucial element to the muchdebated question of the relationship between Greek and Roman bathingculture. This book also provides the first comprehensive catalog of allknown Greek public baths (balaneia), including descriptions, plans andbibliographies, as a major reference tool for future comparativeresearch on ancient bathing culture and beyond. catalog and paperscombined make this a rich study of a topic of newly recognizedsignificance in the ancient world. This volume is the outcome of the first conference to take place on the topic of Greek baths and bathing culture, a central but hitherto neglected area in the field of ancient studies. Fifteen papers by an international group of archaeologists, art historians and ancient historians discuss Greek bathing culture from a socio-historica Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.…