David Gange
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199653102
- eISBN:
- 9780191752100
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical, British and Irish History: BCE to 500CE
Every great figure of the nineteenth century—from Gladstone, Carlyle and Ruskin, to Byron, Tennyson and Yeats, or Lyell, Darwin and Huxley—read histories of ancient Egypt and argued about their ...
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Every great figure of the nineteenth century—from Gladstone, Carlyle and Ruskin, to Byron, Tennyson and Yeats, or Lyell, Darwin and Huxley—read histories of ancient Egypt and argued about their content. They recognised Egypt as a focal point in disputes over human origins, patterns underlying human history, the status and purpose of the Bible and the cultural roles of the classics. Egyptian archaeology ingrained its influence everywhere from the lecture halls of the ancient universities, to the devotional aids of rural Sunday schools and the plots of cheap sensation fiction. This study shows how Egyptology’s development over the century after decipherment of the hieroglyphic script can only be understood through its entanglement in the historical, scientific and religious contentions that defined the era. This interest was inseparable from Egypt’s status as a Bible land. Rapidly changing forms of nineteenth-century Egyptology were defined by new assumptions about what the Bible was and what its cultural status should be. Almost every leading Egyptologist of this period published works of theology, while religious thinkers—conservative and radical—embraced the study of ancient Egypt with staggering intensity. In the mid century Egypt played a powerful role in radical biblical criticism. By the end of the century, however, the Egyptology of Petrie and the Egypt Exploration Fund was instrumental in a broad fight-back of popular religion against all forms of elite criticism. Readers of Egyptology aimed to synthesise their interpretation of ancient Egypt in accordance with their attitudes to other controversial themes: geology, literal readings of the Bible, Darwinian evolution or historical renderings of Homer. Conversely, Egyptologists recorded their commitment to this public and their debt to a host of geologists, astronomers, theologians and novelists. Drawing on the archives of individuals, Egyptological organisations and museums, this study shows how the unprecedented transformations in this period’s cultural life shaped Egyptology, and how Egyptology in turn drove these transformations on, shaping the society in which it was formed.Less
Every great figure of the nineteenth century—from Gladstone, Carlyle and Ruskin, to Byron, Tennyson and Yeats, or Lyell, Darwin and Huxley—read histories of ancient Egypt and argued about their content. They recognised Egypt as a focal point in disputes over human origins, patterns underlying human history, the status and purpose of the Bible and the cultural roles of the classics. Egyptian archaeology ingrained its influence everywhere from the lecture halls of the ancient universities, to the devotional aids of rural Sunday schools and the plots of cheap sensation fiction. This study shows how Egyptology’s development over the century after decipherment of the hieroglyphic script can only be understood through its entanglement in the historical, scientific and religious contentions that defined the era. This interest was inseparable from Egypt’s status as a Bible land. Rapidly changing forms of nineteenth-century Egyptology were defined by new assumptions about what the Bible was and what its cultural status should be. Almost every leading Egyptologist of this period published works of theology, while religious thinkers—conservative and radical—embraced the study of ancient Egypt with staggering intensity. In the mid century Egypt played a powerful role in radical biblical criticism. By the end of the century, however, the Egyptology of Petrie and the Egypt Exploration Fund was instrumental in a broad fight-back of popular religion against all forms of elite criticism. Readers of Egyptology aimed to synthesise their interpretation of ancient Egypt in accordance with their attitudes to other controversial themes: geology, literal readings of the Bible, Darwinian evolution or historical renderings of Homer. Conversely, Egyptologists recorded their commitment to this public and their debt to a host of geologists, astronomers, theologians and novelists. Drawing on the archives of individuals, Egyptological organisations and museums, this study shows how the unprecedented transformations in this period’s cultural life shaped Egyptology, and how Egyptology in turn drove these transformations on, shaping the society in which it was formed.
Melissa Terras
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199204557
- eISBN:
- 9780191708121
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199204557.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, British and Irish History: BCE to 500CE
The ink and stylus tablets discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda are a unique resource for scholars of ancient history. However, the stylus tablets in particular are extremely difficult to read. ...
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The ink and stylus tablets discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda are a unique resource for scholars of ancient history. However, the stylus tablets in particular are extremely difficult to read. This book details the development of what appears to be the first system constructed to aid experts in the process of reading an ancient document, exploring the extent to which techniques from artificial intelligence can be used to develop a system that could aid historians in reading the stylus texts. Using knowledge elicitation techniques (borrowed from artificial intelligence and engineering science), a model is proposed for how experts construct a reading of a text. A prototype system is presented that can read in image data and produce realistic and plausible textual interpretations of the writing that appears on the documents. Incorporating knowledge elicited from experts working on the texts, and utilizing image processing techniques developed in engineering science to analyze the stylus tablets, the book includes a corpora of letter forms generated from the Vindolanda text corpus, and a detailed description of the architecture of the system. This research presents the first stages towards developing a cognitive visual system that can propagate realistic interpretations from image data.Less
The ink and stylus tablets discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda are a unique resource for scholars of ancient history. However, the stylus tablets in particular are extremely difficult to read. This book details the development of what appears to be the first system constructed to aid experts in the process of reading an ancient document, exploring the extent to which techniques from artificial intelligence can be used to develop a system that could aid historians in reading the stylus texts. Using knowledge elicitation techniques (borrowed from artificial intelligence and engineering science), a model is proposed for how experts construct a reading of a text. A prototype system is presented that can read in image data and produce realistic and plausible textual interpretations of the writing that appears on the documents. Incorporating knowledge elicited from experts working on the texts, and utilizing image processing techniques developed in engineering science to analyze the stylus tablets, the book includes a corpora of letter forms generated from the Vindolanda text corpus, and a detailed description of the architecture of the system. This research presents the first stages towards developing a cognitive visual system that can propagate realistic interpretations from image data.
Anthony R. Birley
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199252374
- eISBN:
- 9780191719103
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252374.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, British and Irish History: BCE to 500CE
This work is a completely rewritten version of The Fasti of Roman Britain (1981), with biographical entries for all senior officers and higher officials who served in the island from AD 43 to 409. ...
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This work is a completely rewritten version of The Fasti of Roman Britain (1981), with biographical entries for all senior officers and higher officials who served in the island from AD 43 to 409. All new governors, legionary legates, senatorial tribunes, procurators, and fleet prefects discovered since 1981 are included, and the entries for those previously known are revised. Translations of all sources are also added in this edition. There are sections on local government; governor’s staff; the careers of senators and procurators in the principate; the subdivisions into Upper and Lower Britain, then into four, and finally five, provinces; and the late Roman civil and military system. Further, imperial visits or involvement in British affairs are discussed in detail. These include Claudius’ participation in the conquest and his victory celebrations; Hadrian’s visit in 122 and the building of his Wall; the building of the Antonine Wall; Severus’ expedition, 208-211; the usurpation of Carausius and Allectus; Constantius’ recovery of Britain and Pictish campaign; Constantine’s proclamation as emperor at York and possible later visits; Constans’ expedition in 343; Stilicho’s defence measures; and the end of Roman rule. This book offers a narrative history of Roman Britain, with full citation of sources. The analysis of the background and careers of hundreds of individuals sheds light on the way the Roman Empire worked during a period of over 360 years.Less
This work is a completely rewritten version of The Fasti of Roman Britain (1981), with biographical entries for all senior officers and higher officials who served in the island from AD 43 to 409. All new governors, legionary legates, senatorial tribunes, procurators, and fleet prefects discovered since 1981 are included, and the entries for those previously known are revised. Translations of all sources are also added in this edition. There are sections on local government; governor’s staff; the careers of senators and procurators in the principate; the subdivisions into Upper and Lower Britain, then into four, and finally five, provinces; and the late Roman civil and military system. Further, imperial visits or involvement in British affairs are discussed in detail. These include Claudius’ participation in the conquest and his victory celebrations; Hadrian’s visit in 122 and the building of his Wall; the building of the Antonine Wall; Severus’ expedition, 208-211; the usurpation of Carausius and Allectus; Constantius’ recovery of Britain and Pictish campaign; Constantine’s proclamation as emperor at York and possible later visits; Constans’ expedition in 343; Stilicho’s defence measures; and the end of Roman rule. This book offers a narrative history of Roman Britain, with full citation of sources. The analysis of the background and careers of hundreds of individuals sheds light on the way the Roman Empire worked during a period of over 360 years.
Edward Paleit
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199602988
- eISBN:
- 9780191744761
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602988.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, British and Irish History: BCE to 500CE
War, Liberty and Caesar is chiefly an attempt to address aspects of early modern English literary and political culture between ca. 1580 to 1650, through the sometimes illuminating prism ...
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War, Liberty and Caesar is chiefly an attempt to address aspects of early modern English literary and political culture between ca. 1580 to 1650, through the sometimes illuminating prism of the reception of a classical text. It is also a study of that text itself, through the medium of early modern engagements. It examines and interprets responses to Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile across many different forms of discourse, trying to balance an account of the cultural assumptions and practices which shaped Lucan for early modern readers with a sense of the historical specificity of individual engagements, and an evolving narrative of pre-Civil War English writing. It argues that there were many sides to reading Lucan in the period but that collectively many if not most readers used Lucan to express aspects of a troubled, changing political experience. It examines readings of Lucan by a number of important early modern English authors, including Ben Jonson, Samuel Daniel, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, Abraham Cowley, and Thomas May. The number and variety of engagements with Lucan in the period suggest it could be called an ‘age of Lucan’.Less
War, Liberty and Caesar is chiefly an attempt to address aspects of early modern English literary and political culture between ca. 1580 to 1650, through the sometimes illuminating prism of the reception of a classical text. It is also a study of that text itself, through the medium of early modern engagements. It examines and interprets responses to Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile across many different forms of discourse, trying to balance an account of the cultural assumptions and practices which shaped Lucan for early modern readers with a sense of the historical specificity of individual engagements, and an evolving narrative of pre-Civil War English writing. It argues that there were many sides to reading Lucan in the period but that collectively many if not most readers used Lucan to express aspects of a troubled, changing political experience. It examines readings of Lucan by a number of important early modern English authors, including Ben Jonson, Samuel Daniel, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, Abraham Cowley, and Thomas May. The number and variety of engagements with Lucan in the period suggest it could be called an ‘age of Lucan’.
