The Physicality of the Other

Masks from the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean

edited by Angelika Berlejung and Judith E. Filitz

Book cover: The Physicality of the Other

Extent: 398 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Ancient Near East

Series: Orientalische Religionen in der Antike

Series volume number: 27

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(February 2018)

ISBN: 9783161555138

Price: $218.00

In stock

This volume comprises the conference proceedings of the international and interdisciplinary conference held in Leipzig from November 9 to 11, 2015. Scholars from different research areas present masks from Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Greece, mainly from the third to the first millennium BCE. The masks are analyzed from archaeological, iconographical, anthropological, philological, and theological perspectives. In many cases, the masks refer to gods, ancestors, spirits, and are used as a means to communicate between human beings and supernatural powers. Masks belong to the human condition and seem to be the international and intercultural answer to one of the most existential questions of human life. In addition, the volume includes an archaeological catalogue of the masks from Israel/Palestine of the Neolithic Age until the Persian Period.

  • Edited by Angelika Berlejung
  • Edited by Judith E Filitz