The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions - Tapa dura

"This volume provides a valuable entrance for students and scholars into a myriad of diverse topics in ancient religions. In addition to serving as a convenient reference work on the practices, beliefs, divinities, and institutions of Mediterranean antiquity, it introduces readers to methodologies, debates, and theoretical approaches that exhibit both the commonalities among religions and the uniqueness of each of them."

Erich S. Gruen, University of California Berkeley, USA

"A splendid achievement. An extremely useful and informative resource that treats the religions of the ancient Mediterranean holistically and not as discrete entities. The result is a needed widening of horizons."

Karl Galinsky, University of Texas at Austin, USA

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions is the first comprehensive single-volume reference work offering authoritative coverage of ancient religions in the Mediterranean world. Chronologically, the volume’s scope extends from pre-historical antiquity in the third millennium B.C.E. through the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E. An interdisciplinary approach draws out the common issues and elements between and among religious traditions in the Mediterranean basin. Key features of the volume include:

• Detailed maps of the Mediterranean World, ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, and the Hellenistic World
• A comprehensive timeline of major events, innovations, and individuals, divided by region to provide both a diachronic and pan-Mediterranean, synchronic view
• A broad geographical range including western Asia, northern Africa, and southern Europe

This encyclopedia will serve as a key point of reference for all students and scholars interested in ancient Mediterranean culture and society.