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In this important and timely publication, top international scholars present current research and developments about the art, archaeology, and history of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Syria. Palmyra became tragic headline news in 2015, when it was overtaken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which destroyed many of its monuments and artifacts. The essays in this book include new scholarship on Palmyra's origins and evolution as well as deve...

A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Americas is the first comprehensive survey to narrate the urbanization of the Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, making it a vital resource to help you understand the built environment in this part of the world. The book combines the latest scholarship about the indigenous past with an environmental history approach covering issues of climate, geology, and biology, so that you'll see the relationship between urban and rural in...

Investigating the historical tradition of Chinese architectural writing from antiquity to the twelfth century, Chinese Architecture and Metaphor reveals significant and fascinating social and cultural phenomena in the most important primary text for the study of the Chinese building tradition. Unlike previous scholarship, which has reviewed this imperially commissioned architectural manual largely as a technical work, this volume considers the Yingzao fashi's unique literary value and explores t...

Offering a fresh approach to ancient Greek architecture, Shaping Ceremony focuses on the overlooked subject of monumental steps. Written in a clear and readable style, the book presents three complementary ways of studying steps: examining how the human body works on steps; theoretical perspectives on the relationship between architecture and human behavior; and the socio-political effects of steps' presence. Although broad steps are usually associated with emperors and political dominance, Mary...

This book unveils the inheritance of a fascinating city. Christened "Constantinople" by Constantine the Great, the city successively served as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and commanded a key position between Occident and Orient for more than sixteen centuries. The wealth of cultural treasures that characterize the face of Istanbul today reflects this rich history. The Hagia Sophia stems from the early Christian era; the Middle Ages bequeathed us churches and monasteries rich...

Biblical Limits is a new series which brings to the traditional field of Biblical Studies literary criticism, anthropology and gender-based approaches, thus reaching new ways of understanding Biblical texts.Jesus Framed is a collection of essays on reading the gospel of Mark. It uses literary theory, most notably the writings of Roland Barthes, to examine some of the difficulties in the text of Mark. A series of close readings of the gospel of Mark is compared to similar texts, both biblical and...

This is the first book for over twenty years to undertake a holistic examination of the Donatist Controversy, a bilious and sometimes violent schism that broke out in the North African Christian Church in the early years of the century AD and which continued up until the sixth century AD. What made this religious dispute so important was that its protagonists brought to the fore a number of issues and practices that had empire-wide ramifications for how the Christian church and the Roman imperia...

Roman emperors, Arab scholars, and early travellers were already drawn to and enchanted by the fascination of the land along the Nile. The pyramids of Giza, the temple-city of Karnak, or the Valley of the Kings with the grave of Tutankhamen even today maintain their extraordinary force of attraction.Across the centuries, the high culture of the ancient Egyptians has pertained its allure. This can certainly be attributed to their astounding architectural, artistic, and technological achievements...

The eighth century was a turbulent time for Byzantium. Beset by war, plague and religious division, this remnant of the Rome fought for survival. Severe decline and dislocation necessitated far reaching reform and soul searching. In particular, Byzantines asked why God had so punished the Chosen People they believed themselves to be. Attempting to formulate solutions to these problems were the new imperial dynasty, the Isaurians. Taking power in 717 as Constantinople was under siege by the Arab...