Overview

For millennia, people have universally engaged in ecstatic experience as an essential element in ritual practice, spiritual belief and cultural identification. This volume offers the first systematic investigation of its myriad roles and manifestations in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. The twenty-nine contributors represent a broad range of scholarly disciplines, seeking answers to fundamental questions regarding the patterns and commonalities of this vital aspect of the past. How was the experience construed and by what means was it achieved? Who was involved? Where and when were rites carried out? How was it reflected in pictorial arts and written records? What was its relation to other components of the sociocultural compact? In proposing responses, the authors draw upon a wealth of original research in many fields, generating new perspectives and thought-provoking, often surprising, conclusions. With their abundant cross-cultural and cross-temporal references, the chapters mutually enrich each other and collectively deepen our understanding of ecstatic phenomena thousands of years ago. Another noteworthy feature of the book is its illustrative content, including commissioned reconstructions of ecstatic scenarios and pairings of works of Bronze Age and modern psychedelic art. Scholars, students and other readers interested in antiquity, comparative religion and the social and cognitive sciences will find much to explore in the fascinating realm of ecstatic experience in the ancient world.

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9781032108483

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Reviews

"""This is a landmark work in the revival of studies on ecstatic states and the ways in which these experiences have informed religious beliefs and ritual practices throughout the ancient world."" - Patrick McNamara, Associate Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine ""This innovative volume is particularly excellent in its interdisciplinary approach and broad definition of the ancient world, bringing together so many experts in the study of ecstatic experience."" - Laurence Totelin, Reader in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University ""This book goes far toward systematizing our reaction not only to what Emily Vermeule memorably described as 'the individual and strange' in Aegean art but also to their wide-ranging manifestations elsewhere in the ancient world, enlarging our understanding of the vital roles they played in religion and society."" - John G. Younger, Professor Emeritus, Department of Classics, University of Kansas ""[T]he collection contains a lot of varied and fascinating information and original perspectives and interpretations that will be useful not just toresearchers and students but to anyone interested in the ritual role of altered states of consciousness in the ancient world. It is clear there is a wealth of archaeological, iconographical and textual evidence that testifies to the prevalence and diversity of ecstatic experience in the ancient eastern Mediterranean. The volume succeeds in demonstrating that ecstatic experiences were of fundamental importance to ancient religious expression"" - Helene Whittaker, CLARA ""Well documented and inspiring!"" - Bibliotheca Orientalis"

Author Information

Diana L. Stein, Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, specializes in seals and sealing practices in the ancient Near East. She has authored, co-authored and co-edited several volumes (1993, 2001, 2003, 2016), as well as numerous articles relating to Near Eastern chronology, mythology, iconography, material culture and ritual practice. Her research and fieldwork have taken her to Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. Sarah Kielt Costello is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Houston–Clear Lake. Her research areas include early Mesopotamian and Cypriot art and archaeology, as well as museum and heritage studies. She recently co-edited Object Biographies: Collaborative Approaches to Ancient Mediterranean Art (2021) and has written numerous articles and book chapters. She has worked on archaeological projects in Cyprus, Turkey, Israel and Greece. Karen Polinger Foster (retired, Yale University) specializes in the art of the Aegean, Egypt and the ancient Near East, about which she has written numerous books and articles. Her latest publications include A Mesopotamian Miscellany (2020) and Strange and Wonderful: Exotic Flora and Fauna in Image and Imagination (2020). She has served as the archaeological illustrator for projects in Egypt, Syria, Italy and France.

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